


Tales of the Fathomless Sea

by Parni1380, Sarvin114



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, MerMay, Multi, Panic Attacks, Pirates, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:06:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24377704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Parni1380/pseuds/Parni1380, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarvin114/pseuds/Sarvin114
Summary: His face is paler now, and his once shiny porcelain skin is covered in all kinds of cuts and bruises. But Zhenya will never forget Yuzuru’s pure black fin -poking out from inside of the tank of water he's in- that matched his hair and obsidian eyes. Eyes that shined bright with an internal fire, but now look dull and unfocused. She needs to get Javi and get him out of here. Right now!When Javi helped Zhenya save her merman friend, he never thought he would fall head over heels for him.___________Mermaid/Pirate AU
Relationships: Javier Fernández/Yuzuru Hanyu, Jun Hwan Cha/Conrad Orzel
Comments: 126
Kudos: 172





	1. The Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Parni1380 speaking:
> 
> So, this was supposed to be a short story for MerMay. But thanks to the over-active minds of me and Sarvin114, it changed to a long story with a nearly fully developed plot.
> 
> The writing of course, is not complete yet. But we're trying to publish one chapter per week.
> 
> Also, as it is a Pirate AU, there surely will be lots of ship words that not everyone may know the meaning of. So, any word that we think is uncommon, will be defined in the end of the chapter.
> 
> Let me thank Sarvin114 once more because she's literally doing more work on it than I am. I love you Sarv.
> 
> Anyways, please bear with us and this story. I hope you all enjoy it.

The night air is crisp and cool, laden by the scent of the ocean. Zhenya feels it rush against her face as she runs through hallways in search of the medicine room. It feels ironic, robbing a Russian ship. They've never robbed one before since Zhenya joined the Cricket. It was a lucky accident, when Jun spotted the fancy-looking galleon¹ not too far away, from up on the crow's nest.

Javi had soon decided that a quick raid on Plushenko’s ship wouldn't hurt. Because the Angel, in all its glory, isn't a battle ship. It has a competent crew, as expected from a large cargo ship like this, But the ship itself isn't designed for battle. Not that it matters, anyway.

Cricket's raiding methods are unique, to say the least. _‘Well it wasn’t, until I joined them’_ Zhenya thinks, smirking at her own thought, which is actually true to some extent.

Since the day Javi has become the captain, the Cricket has avoided close combat as much as possible. Javier does not believe in unnecessary bloodshed, specially on their own side. So they have always done their raids late at night, on the big, slow merchant ships like the Angel, and with the least possible casualties. But there was only so much they could do, and they more often than not ended up in some sort of a fight before Javier ordered them to retreat, almost never stealing with their full potential to save the crew.

But since Zhenya, with her _surprising_ knowledge of herbs and medicine, had joined them, the method has been slightly altered. They still attack late at night, and still avoid close combat as much as possible. But they no longer get close to the ships, hoping the guards on the deck won't alarm the others before they’re close enough to shoot them. They no longer get on the ships hoping that the remaining crew stays asleep as they rob it. Instead, they get on the ships _knowing_ that the crew will remain asleep. Because Zhenya has always provided them with anesthetic herbs that they can set on fire, and use its smoke to make the guards on the deck unconscious. Jason and Raya, also known as the falcons of Cricket, shoot arrows containing the smoking herbs on the target ship's deck, and wait until no one is conscious on the deck. Then, they get closer, allowing youngsters like Jun and Conrad to get on the target ship as quietly as possible, and throw some more of the anesthetic smoke inside the crew's quarters while wearing thick and tight face covers themselves to block out the smoke. They wait for a few minutes, the rest is as easy as taking candy from a baby.

Just like this time. Well, _mostly_ like this time. Because something went wrong. The crew members were way more than they had estimated, and they ended up with not enough doses of herbs for all of them. That's why Jun and Conrad used less herbs than usual in each room.

Brian had advised against continuing. _‘Not worth risking for’_ , he said. But Javi wanted to stick to the plan, knowing of Plushenko's wealth and reputation. And Zhenya, surprisingly, took Javi's side. She didn't know why. She _still_ doesn't know why, as she opens door after door in Angel's orlop², to find the medicine room sooner, and hopefully get some of the herbs she needs to make some more anesthetic. All she knows, is that this ship is familiar, like she’s seen it before but doesn’t remember where. something in her is telling her that there is something important on this ship. Like something's pulling her, attracting her, like a magnet.

But right now, she doesn’t have time for her little magnet. Right now, she has to hurry and find what she needs and-

Her thoughts come to a halt the moment she opens the last door on that hallway, and she sees what's inside. Or rather, who’s inside.

* * *

_“Zhenya, watch out!!” Hands push her to the side. it takes her a few seconds to notice that he’s caught in a net._

_“Yuzu!” She calls out. The net is pulled farther away from her. She starts swimming to him, to set him free._

_“Zhenya don't! Get away from here! Go! They’ll catch you too!” He shouts. More nets drop down. She wants to dodge them, get to Yuzuru, but there are just too many nets._

_“Just GO!!!” Yuzuru screams one last time, before he’s pulled out of the water, fading into the night sky above._

* * *

His face is paler now, and his once shiny porcelain skin is covered in all kinds of cuts and bruises. But Zhenya will never forget that pure black fin -poking out from inside of the tank of water he's in- that matches his hair and obsidian eyes. Eyes that shined bright with an internal fire, but now look dull and unfocused. Zhenya is sure he isn't even seeing her straight.

“Zhenya? Is that you?” He whispers, and his voice is barely audible, eyes still unfocused.

“It's funny, this new drug.” He whispers, more to himself than anyone else. “I'm now seeing you with legs.” He lets out a weak sound, that Zhenya thinks was supposed to be a laugh.

“But it's better like this. Last one made me…” He pauses for a few seconds, as if collecting his thoughts. “The last one made me see _him_ all the time.” He mutters, and suddenly shuts his eyes, puts a hand on his temple and groans in pain.

“Y-Yuzuru?” She finally finds her voice. she steps closer to the glass tank in the corner, barely bigger than the bathtub she just saw in the other room. And definitely not big enough to fit Yuzuru inside. The end of his fin is poking out, and the scales there are chafe and dry, some of them missing. His torso is in the water all the way to the gills on his neck. A little above, a metal collar is wrapped tightly around his neck and attached to a ring a foot higher on the wall with a chain, Making him unable to sink any further in, forcing his head to stay out of the water. ‘Like he can escape anyway’ she thinks.

Zhenya waits for him to answer her for what feels like another minute or two, but Yuzuru doesn't make a sound. Doesn't even open his eyes.

“Fuck.” She mutters under her breath, as she stands up to leave the room.

“I’ll be right back, ok? I promise.” She says, seemingly to Yuzuru, but mostly to herself. She dashes out of the room, running to the other side of the orlop where she knows Javier and the others are already picking out as much valuables as they can from the storage rooms.

She runs, and all the while she thinks of her life under the sea, before she came up to this new world full of colors and smells and no need of being the princess she was supposed to be. She thinks of her last month under the sea, the time she spent with Yuzuru, looking for the magical stones that would give them legs and lungs in the warm blue waters of Mediterranean. Only that Yuzuru never wanted legs. He was just being nice, helping Zhenya escape her future, and finding the stones was the key. But then that night came. She doesn’t remember much, she just remembers hearing Yuzu’s scream, being pushed away, and then swimming. lots of swimming. she swam with every ounce of power she had in her like her life depended on it, because it did.

She runs until she finds Javi, inside a room full of colorful Persian rugs, instructing Jason and Raya which ones they should pick.

“Javi, we need to stop the raid. we have to get him and get back. RIGHT NOW!” She nearly screams, completely out of breath, and startles everyone in the room.

“Shhhhh, Zhenya! You're gonna wake up the whole damn ship!” Javier whispers. “What's wrong? There’s no herb? Did you look the other hallway down the- ”

“No, no I didn't. And I don't _care_ , Javi! This is more important!”

“What's more important?! You're scaring me!”

“I've found him, Javi! He's right there! In the room at the end of the second hallway.”

“Him? Who's ‘him’?”

“A friend of mine. from _before_.”

“You're telling me that there’s a merman on this goddamn ship?!” Javier asks, and he sounds both surprised and kind of angry.

“Yes! And he's hurt! We need to take him back Javi.” Zhenya says with a sense of urgency.

Javier exchanges a glance with the other two in the room and asks, “Where is he, and how can we take him back?”

Zhenya’s fluttering heart calms just a little bit, and she whispers, “Follow me.”

* * *

1\. [Galleon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galleon): A galleon was a large, multi-decked sailing ship used as armed cargo carriers primarily by European states during the age of sail.

2\. [Orlop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlop_deck): the lowest deck of a wooden sailing ship with three or more decks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you guys confused?  
> Do you have any thoughts? Ideas?


	2. The Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Voices. There are voices all around. Both inside of him and outside. The voices inside are the same ones he's been hearing over and over again in the past two years. Voices blaming him for being so weak. His mother's voice blaming him for leaving. And his voice, telling him how good he was for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sarvin114 here! Hope you're all ok and staying safe.
> 
> This is the first time that I'm doing more than just editing and I'm pretty excited for this fanfic.
> 
> So this is what happened with this story. Parni told me about the plot, we worked on it and changed it a lot. Now, mostly Parni writes and I edit but I edit more freely than usual.
> 
> Enjoy! And if you feel like it, please leave comments or kudos;)

Voices. There are voices all around. Both inside of him and outside. The voices inside are the same ones he's been hearing over and over again in the past two years. Voices blaming him for being so weak. His mother's voice blaming him for leaving. And _his_ voice, telling him how good he was for him.

But the voices outside are different. There are voices shouting. Sound of something heavy falling down.

Someone yells.

“What the fuck, Jun?!”

A laughter comes from somewhere higher.

“Sorry, Joseph. Was aiming for Conrad.”

“What, you wanna drop ten kilos of rope on your boyfriend's head and kill him?”

More laughter. Another voice, from afar, not so loud. He can't hear the words. But he can say that's a woman's voice. Why is there a woman here? But wait, they gave him a new drug last time. Maybe the woman's voice is just in his head. Maybe all the different voices outside are his mind playing tricks on him. And maybe not. He can't really tell.

But real or not, after the woman's voice, he hears someone moving something heavy on wood. Its scratching sound reminds Yuzu of the creak of his cell's old wooden door, whenever Captain came. Maybe it's just that, and Yuzuru is just imagining it to be something else. Because he's so sore, and tired, and _god please don't let Captain come back so soon_.

But the scratching sound continues, way longer than the creak of his door. It gets closer and closer, until it stops just a little bit off to his side. There are footsteps coming near him. Way too close. Just above his head. And he wants to open his eyes. To move. But he doesn't have the energy. And he feels hot. So hot, like his skin is burning.

But then there are heavenly cool and soft hands on his hot skin, moving something off the gills on his neck. And in the back of his mind, he somehow knows it was a wet towel to get him oxygen to breathe while he is out of water. But why is he out of water?

There are more hands after the ones on his neck leave. Different hands, calloused and warmer than the previous ones. They hold under his arms, and around his fin, and pull him up. One step to the side, and then they bring him down. Lower and lower, until the blissful coolness of fresh water hits his back and spreads across his body. When his head also slides under water, he swears he would scream if his mind wasn't so full of fog. Because it's been _so long_ since his head was under water. And the cool wet sensation feels like a dream to the pale dried skin of his face.

“Thank god he fits in there. Been working on this aquarium for like, five hours now.” A man's voice says, a hint of an accent in his voice.

“It's not an aquarium, and you were not the one who made it, Javi. Nam and Joseph did most of the job.” The same woman's voice from before mocks this _Javi_ person, and Yuzuru swears he knows the voice. But again, his mind is only half working, and he can't tell.

“Whatever.” The man mutters. “What do we do now?”

“Now, you big boys are gonna move this _aquarium_ you made to my room. I’ve got a lot to do. He’s been dehydrated for too long.”

“Yes, _captain_.” The man -Javi- says, and the whole crowd around them bursts into laughter, as Yuzuru’s mind flashes with a sudden pain and fully shuts down for the second time that day.

* * *

The world around Yuzuru shakes and jolts him awake, after who knows how long. He knows this type of shakings well enough. They're probably going through a storm. With high waves and harsh winds, making Angel's crew busy on the deck, to get them out of the storm alive.

‘It’s ok.’ He thinks. He likes the storms. Storm means that Captain is on the deck with his crew. Storm means that he can't come down to torture Yuzuru. Storm means there’s a slight chance that Angel crashes and sends him back into the sea. Only that the room he’s in, isn’t on the Angel. He knows it because this ship looks visibly older than the Angel. There are bits on the ceiling where the woods have turned dark, and places where the dark old woods are replaced with newer light brown ones.

He straightens up a bit to take a better look at his surroundings, and winces as the movement stretches the newest cut on his chest. Instinctively, he reaches up to touch his wound. But instead of skin, his hand touches fabric. He looks down and sees his body wrapped in layers upon layers of bandage. On his torso, his arms, and his _neck_. His neck that is now free of the collar. His neck, that for the first time in weeks, isn’t chained to the wall. His neck that is now covered in bandages. He doesn’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, and he won’t find out unless he looks at the rest of the room he’s in, not just the ceiling that he can see from where he’s lying down in his wooden water tank.

So he does just that and sits up straight, in a way that his head pokes out of the water. It’s not pleasant, to have his head out of the water again. But he needs to do this. He needs to know where he is. He needs to know if he’s in danger. He needs to. _He needs to!_

But before he can actually look at anything, the door to the room opens, and a figure he knows too well comes in. She's wearing a loose white shirt, and a brown corset on it. Her long hair falls down on her right shoulder from under the headscarf she’s wearing. She moves towards the desk in the other corner of the room.

“Goddamn you, Jeffrey. He was nearly knocking us over on a stupid wave!” She throws her hands in the air, and then flops down on her chair in front of her desk.

“God only knows how he gets us safely out of storms.” She says, after writing something down on her notes on the desk, and stands up again. Making her way to the big shelf just a few feet away from Yuzuru’s tank. All the while Yuzuru just sits there and stares, as Zhenya takes a jar from the top shelf and turns his way.

Upon seeing him, her face turns white, and she drops the jar on the ground, shattering it and splattering its content all over the floor.

“Oh my god, Yuzu! You're awake?!” She exclaims, and comes closer to him. Not caring about the mess on the floor.

But she suddenly stops, a few feet away from Yuzuru, and asks, “Is it… Can I come closer?”

Yuzuru doesn't quite know if saying yes is a good idea, but his mouth is moving before he can decide, and he finds himself whispering a ‘yes’.

“Good. I was going to put some of this ointment on your back to help with the bruises.” She points to the dark green content of the broken jar on the floor. “But it's... ugh, pretty much gone now.”

“It's, um.. it's ok. I already have bandages on my back.” Yuzuru says, as a million questions race through his head. Where is he? Why isn't he on the Angel? What is Zhenya doing here? How the fuck does she have legs? Is it still the new drug? He doesn't feel drugged now. But last night's dream was the drug, right? The dream where he saw Zhenya in his room on the Angel, again with legs. Or was it not? Was that real? Did Zhenya really-

“I know that, dummy. I put them there myself.” Zhenya jokes.

“You..?”

“Yes, Yuzu! Me! I finally became a healer. Can you believe it?”

* * *

_“My Prince, Princess Evgenia of Russia seeks audience with you.” Keiji, his personal guard, announces from the doorway._

_Yuzuru looks up from his book and says, "Let her in."_

* * *

_“Oh my god Zhenya! That's so cool!” Yuzuru whispers as he watches the wound on the dolphin's side close up on its own._

_“I know! And it's what I want to do in my life. Healing.”_

* * *

_“Yuzuru, you need to help me!”_

_“Help you escape?! You’re aware that your mother has the most powerful observing magic in the oceans, aren’t you?!”_

_“Yes! That’s why I need your help!”_

_“What can I even do?”_

_“Don’t worry, I have a plan.”_

* * *

She said she had a plan. And it seems her plan has worked out. It was the goal from the beginning. She would secretly join the Japanese caravan on the way back from the AquaGala, and travel with Yuzuru from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, where she would get her magical stones and turn her fin into legs. So that she could be out of her mother's reach, and become a healer as she had always wanted.

Yes, her plan has definitely worked out for her. And Yuzuru can’t help but smile at that.

“So I didn't get caught for nothin-“ He starts to say, but his words are cut short by a sudden coughing fit. A burning sensation fills the insides of his chest and throat.

“Hey, Yuzuru, you ok?!!” Zhenya asks, and Yuzuru wants to answer. He wants to say that yes, he’s ok. He wants to say that he's had these coughs from the moment that Captain decided his head won't go under water. He wants to tell her that it’ll stop, in some minutes. But the coughs keep coming, and he can't talk. He can't _breathe_.

“Here, Yuzuru. Drink some of this.” She brings a glass full of a yellowish liquid near his lips, and it looks so much like the drugs they force-fed him before. And he nearly wants to cry, because he’s back on the Angel and this was all an illusion. He's gonna be drugged again, he's gonna be drugged again, _he's gonna be drugged again_ …

He wants to pull away, to plead, to beg not to take the drug that takes his thoughts away. But he can't breathe. He can't breathe, and he can't move, and when the glass pushes against his lips, he opens them obediently. Letting the liquid find its way to his mouths, and down his throat. Just like the good boy he's supposed to be.

But moments later, he gasps a lungful of air as his gills seem to start to work again. He looks up at Zhenya, and she says, “Yuzuru, I think we have a lot of talking to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Suggestion?


	3. The Dive In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Javi, listen to me.”
> 
> “No.”
> 
> “I’m just saying-”
> 
> “No way.”
> 
> “But we need to help him!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! It's Parni this time! Just wanted to tell you that me and Sarvin are mindblown by the amount of love you guys are giving this story, and we love you all so very much!
> 
> Another thing I wanted to say is that it's the finals' time over where I live, and I'll be having exams these days. So, the next chapter will probably be some days delayed. We'll probably publish it on the next weekend.
> 
> Anyways, as always, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

“Javi, listen to me.”

“No.”

“I’m just saying-”

“No way.”

“But we need to help him!”

“Zhenya, I can't just sail across the world to Japan to help a god forsaken _merman_!” Javi finally snaps and he slams his hands on his desk. They’ve been sitting in his quarters with Zhenya and Brian to discuss the whole Yuzuru-situation for half an hour now, but they don’t seem anywhere near a conclusion.

“Then what exactly do you want to do with him?”

“I don't know. Just throw him back in the water somewhere around here or something.” He shrugs.

“Javi, he’ll fucking _die_ all alone down there before he even gets to any underwater city. It's like, putting a human all alone with no food in the middle of a desert and expecting him to find his way to fucking _Japan_!” Zhenya nearly shouts, and it seems like she's getting tired of this fight as well.

“Well it’s not _my_ problem! I’ve got a ship to run and a crew to take care of!” Javi shouts back.

“Calm _down_ , both of you! We’re here to decide what to do, not to argue like five year olds!” Brian interferes, trying to knock some sense into them.

“Sorry Brian.” They both whisper simultaneously, looking down. Brian sighs.

“Ah, you kids. No wonder I’m losing more and more of my hair everyday.” He pinches his nose. “Now, share your ideas without snapping at each other please.”

“My opinion hasn't changed. I say we should take him to his home.” Zhenya exclaims.

“Zhenya, give me one good reason why I should risk my ship, my crew, and the money I make in Gibraltar1, to help a merman get to his home halfway across the world?”

“Because this merman's mother is the Queen of a huge realm like Japan! And don’t you think she’d be delighted to have her firstborn and heir to the throne back?” Zhenya crosses her arms and throws her eyebrows up.

“So? your point is?”

“I'm telling you she’ll give us tons of money, dummy!”

“Ok but where is the guarantee of that? How do I know she will?” Javier insists, and Brian nearly sighs again from the other end of the room.

“Just trust me. I’ll make that happen.”

Javier looks to Brian from his desk and asks, “What do you think, Brian? Is it worth the risk?”

“I say yes. I don't think you will lose much. Plus, we can raid some damn rich ships in the Red Sea on our way.” Brian suggests, knowing of Javier’s interest in Arab ships and their fully-stocked storage rooms.

After a little pause and with a long sigh, Javier says, “Goddammit. Alright then. We'll take him to Japan.”

“Yes! I love you Javi!” Zhenya nearly squeaks, and Javi can’t help but let out a little laugh.

“Ok, kids. I think you need to tell the whole crew that their days of fun and games are over. This pretty ship is about to sail the whole world!” Brian slams the wooden wall of Javier's room, and then stands up. “Come on. We’ve got a lot to do.”

* * *

The rest of the day goes smoother than Javier expected. When he tells everyone about the new plans during lunch time, there is near to no sound of disagreement or dissatisfaction. Youngsters cheer and laugh, and Jun says something along the lines of “finally we’re gonna have some _real_ adventure”. Gabrielle is thrilled at the mention of the possibility of robbing Arabian ships, and says she has always wanted to be on an Arabian boum2. Only Nam and Jeffrey complain a little. Because it's mainly their job to stay behind the helm and guide the ship through this long journey. But they both get shut up as soon as Ghislain brings their bowls full of meat soup and beans, and they start devouring it with grins on their faces, the previous complaints already forgotten.

Zhenya doesn't stay to eat her lunch, though. Instead, she takes two bowls, and leaves for her room. _‘Surely to feed her merman friend’_ Javier thinks, and nearly rolls his eyes. He’s still not comfortable with the idea of having a person with fins on his ship. Because how the hell would he be able to help if he can’t even get out of that tank? Sailing all the way to Japan is hard enough with a crew full of healthy working sailors. He can't risk having an extra mouth to feed with no benefits.

So, with these thoughts still in his head, he goes to Zhenya's room after lunch to talk to her about this whole Yuzuru-can't-sit-in-that-tank-the-whole-way issue.

When he opens the door to Zhenya's room, he finds her sitting on a chair, just next to the boy's tank, with a map on her lap. Next to her, inside the tank, is her merman friend. His jet black hair seems even darker in the light of the day, and his scars -the ones that aren’t covered by bandages- are more obvious. But despite all of those, he's holding himself up and proud.

Zhenya seems to have been marking something on the map. But as the door opens, she puts the pen down and looks up.

“Oh, hey Javi! Good to see you here! I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Oh really? Well, actually, me too! But... can we… talk alone?” Javier half gestures to Yuzuru, who is sitting up straight, with most of his torso out of the water. His black eyes seem to be looking into Javier’s soul. He doesn’t like it.

“Sure!” She says, and turns to Yuzuru, who’s still staring at Javi, analyzing. “I’ll be back soon.”

Then, she stands up with her map in her hands, and they leave her room for the deck with Javier. As they reach the deck, Zhenya goes straight to her favorite place by the railings and leans on it, looking at the vast sea in front of them. Javier joins her.

“I think you already know that I wanted to talk to you about Yuzuru, right?”

Javier snorts. “You bet!”

Zhenya rolls her eyes at that. And they both fall into an easy laughter, as a soft breeze brushes against their faces.

It's Zhenya who starts the conversation again, after they stop laughing.

“So, as I was saying, it’s about Yuzuru. He... well, we can’t just force him into that tiny tank the whole time, you know?”

“Exactly! Holy oceans, that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about!” Javier says, surprised.

“Oh really? Good! Because I’ve been trying to figure out the location of the nearest homolapisa reserve, and I realized we’re actually just a mile away from it!” Zhenya explains, and unfolds her map to point at the red circle she’s drawn on it.

“Homolapisa? Is that the stone of your pendant?” Javier asks, still not quite an expert in all the mermaid stuff.

“Yes! Homolapisa is the magical stone that turns our fins into legs.” She takes out her pendant from under her white shirt to show to Javier. "There's no other reserve before we reach Italy. So, it's better if we get him one from here."

“ _We_?! This is not what I signed up for Zhenya! I’m not diving into the Mediterranean to get…”

“No, Javi! Oh my god, you men are all so stupid.” Zhenya pinches the bridge of her nose. “ _He's_ the only one going down there.”

“Oh, so all the crap about the sea being ‘dangerous for a lone merman’ and stuff is invalid now?” Javier teases her, a little smirk on his lips.

“JAVI!”

“What? I'm just saying!” He says, and his smirk grows bigger.

“This is barely a mile away. Japan is more than ten _thousand_ miles away! I swear to god, you men will be the death of me!” Zhenya sighs dramatically, and Javier can't help but laugh a little.

“Ok, ok, lady boss! I get your point. Now make yourself useful and go inform your Prince friend instead of ranting here.”

“Oh, he already knows! We just need to bring him up on the deck, so that he can dive in and find the stones.” Zhenya says, matter of factly, and Javier sighs. “You know, sometimes I wonder which one of us really is the captain here.”

“Oh, shut up!” Zhenya smiles. “Let's just get him out here, shall we?”

“Yes Captain!” Javier salutes, and they both fall into easy laughter.

* * *

The door to Zhenya’s room opens, and Yuzuru would be lying if he said it didn't startle him a little. Doors opening was never a good sign back on the Angel. But he isn’t there anymore, and he keeps his composure as Zhenya enters the room, with a grin on her face.

“Yuzuru, guess what?!” She asks, excitedly.

“What?”

“He agreed!”

"Ok, but, uhm... who agreed?" Yuzuru asks a little awkwardly. Still not quite knowing anyone on the Cricket.

“Javi! The captain!”

“Javi? Is that the same guy who- ”

“Entered my room and was too shy to just talk here in front of you? Yes. That’s him.” Zhenya interrupts him.

“But he was so… ”

“Messy? I agree! Not captain-looking at all.”

“No, not that. He was so.. young.”

Zhenya looks like she wants to say something, but before she actually can, the door to her room opens once again, and a group of four men come in. One of them is the said captain.

“Ok, guys. Let's move this aquarium out on the deck again.” Javi orders, and the other three guys take hold of the corners of his tank, and push it towards the door, and take it to the main deck. Under the blue sky. In the fresh air.

He takes in the looks of the ship. With its only one mast and four sails, it definitely is smaller than the Angel. High up on the crow’s nest, a boy with black hair and soft looks is looking down on them, excitedly. There are a couple of guys on the forecastle's deck, who seem to be joking around with the guy who's holding the helm.

But his looking-arounds come to an end when they finally put his tank next to the railings, and Javi starts talking again.

“Time for our precious prince to go find himself some legs.” He says, and taps the side of the tank, making it vibrare a little. With that, Yuzuru pulls himself halfway out of the water, ready to dive down.

“Wait,” Zhenya says, “when you get down there, just swim downwards. You should be able to see the glittering of the stones when you get closer to the bottom.” Yuzu nods.

Zhenya puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and mouths a soundless ‘you can do it’. To which Yuzuru answers by a quick nod of his head, and sits on the railing to dive in.

Just as he’s about to let go of the railing, he hears Javier say, “Just be careful not to be caught again, Princess! I’m counting on the Queen’s money!”

But he doesn’t have time to answer him, or even hear if anyone says anything to him, because his body hits the surface and for the first time in months, he's surrounded by the place that screams “home”.

* * *

The Cricket: The Cricket is a [sloop](https://pirates.fandom.com/wiki/Sloop).(a fore-and-aft rigged ship type, normally with only one mast.) Sloops were used as merchantmen, and were also the most common type of pirate ship. They were fast and agile and required a very small minimal crew.

1\. [Gibraltar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibraltar): Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

2\. [boum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boom_\(sailing\)): A boum/boom is a medium-sized deep-sea dhow, a traditional Arabic sailing vessel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any thoughts? Ideas?  
> What do you think will happen under the sea?  
> I'd love to hear your thoughts ;)


	4. Down Under

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Free.
> 
> That's the first thing that comes to his mind, as he sinks in the deep blue of the sea.
> 
> Both his body and his mind are free. Free to roam wherever he wants to. Free to think whatever he wants to. Free to feel however he wants to.
> 
> Free not to think about the last time he was in the sea, In this exact location, Just above the Homolapisa reserves on the seabed. Not to think about the nets he got tangled in. And the cold air that hit his skin when he was ripped away from the sea.
> 
> He is free not to think about them at all. He swears he is. He should be. But as his eyes land on the bottom of the Cricket, in the exact place that the Angel was back then, he can't help the memories that flood his mind and take control of his brain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! It's Sarvin!  
> So! After a four day delay, chapter 4 is finally here! And I hope we'll make it up to you by the longer length of this chapter compared to the previous ones;)  
> Enjoy!

_Free._

That's the first thing that comes to his mind, as his body sinks in the deep blue of the sea.

_Free._

Both his body and his mind are free. Free to roam _wherever_ he wants to. Free to think _whatever_ he wants to. Free to feel _however_ he wants to.

Free not to think about the last time he was in the sea, in this exact location, just above the Homolapisa reserves on the seabed.

Free not to think about what _happened_ the last time he was here. Not to think about the nets he got tangled in. And the cold air that hit his skin when he was ripped away from the sea.

He is free not to think about them at all. He is. He swears he is. He _should_ be. But as his eyes land on the bottom of the Cricket in the sea, in the exact place that the Angel was back then, he can't help the memories that flood his mind and take control of his brain.

* * *

_"Get off me!! Let me go!!!" He shouts as he struggles in the hands of the sailors holding him._

_"Oh sweetie, we've just only found you." The Captain coos._

_"Fuck off!" He spits out the words._

_The Captain grabs him by the chin, tightly. "Got a dirty mouth, this one. I can fix that."_

* * *

_"This crown," The Captain says as he examines Yuzuru's crown in his hands. "Only royal familieswear them. You're a prince." He concludes, matter of factly._

_Yuzuru only glares from his bound position in the tiny tank they forced him into._

_"You couldn't have been alone. Where are your people?" The Captain suddenly asks._

_“I would die before telling you!” Yuzuru answers, his voice a little raspy and out of breath after the crew beat him. There's a bruise already forming under his left eye._

_"Hm, ok then." The Captain shrugs, puts the crown down on the desk in the corner of the room, and turns back towards Yuzuru._

_"I guess we'll need to do this the hard way, princess." He says as he pulls out a dagger from his belt, and walks towards Yuzuru._

* * *

_Princess_. Captain liked to call him princess. He would call him princess whenever Yuzuru was being obedient. He would call him princess whenever Yuzuru cried from the pain. And then, he would collect all his tears in a fancy delicate bottle and sell it off for god-knows-how-much money. Because that was all Yuzuru was about. Money.

Even now, this new young captain wants him for money. _‘I’m counting on the Queen’s money’_ , He said. Like Yuzuru is just another cargo to be sold. Like how he was just another valuable thing in the Angel's storage.

So, what's the difference between now and then? Just because this new Captain hasn't shoved a knife into his body yet doesn't mean he's trustworthy. Neither does it mean that Yuzuru means anything other than money to him. He’s been money for long enough. But now that he's down here, now that he's _free_ , he can't keep being it anymore. He can't. He _can't_.

But he can't just stay here either. They'll capture him like this. He needs to move. He needs to go. Go away to the farthest place he can swim to. Far away from the surface. Far away from all these humans. He has to go.

But where would he go? He can't swim to Japan on his own. And the nearest city is miles away. He won't make it. He will get caught again. He can't risk it. He can't lose his freedom again.

But he can do one thing. He can swim lower and lower and lower, to where no human can reach. It is still dangerous, yes. But he would rather deal with the creatures _under_ the sea, rather than the ones _above_ it. So, with these thoughts still dancing around his head, he swims.

He swims, and all the while the memories of his past flash before his eyes. The last time their caravan passed through these waters. The last time he saw his mother. The moment he turned his back and left. He didn't really know that his brief goodbye would turn into such a longtime farewell. He would have never left her like this, if he knew what he was going to face.

He wonders what his mother thinks of him. Does she hate him for not listening to her? For helping Zhenya and going out with her alone? Will she even be happy if Yuzuru comes back? Or will she just push him away, tell him to go back to wherever he has been this whole time? Will she even be happy enough to give a single penny to Javier? Or will she-

His thoughts are disrupted by the blinding glow of the Homolapisa stones from afar. Their iridescent glow shines through the water like branches of a tree, lighting the whole area. Yuzuru's breath hitches at the magnificent sight in front of him. The magic of the stones moves through the water like waves, and warms Yuzuru's body from within. It's soothing, as much as the thoughts in his head are terrifying. And it draws him in like a magnetic field. Soon enough, Yuzuru finds himself in the middle of the field, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of pieces of Homolapisa. Some the size of a fist, and some barely the size of a pinky.

There are groups of fishes swimming around the area. Of shades of pink, purple, and light blue, reflecting the light of the stones. A group of fishes swim around Yuzuru. Their bodies brush against the scarred skin of his back and torso. Yuzuru finds himself giggling, as the motion tickles him a little. And it feels _good_. He doesn't remember the last time he felt good. But right now, with the magic flowing through the water, and the joy of having the marine life around him, he feels gleeful. Carefree, even. And he lets his body slump down on a sandy spot somewhere between the stones, and feels his eyes get heavy and shut, as peaceful sleep takes his tired mind away.

In his dreams, he sees his mother, awaiting him. He sees her smiling, and welcoming him back home. And somehow in that dream, he knows that he has trusted those humans to help him. And he knows that his trust has paid off. In his dream, everything looks _right_.

He doesn't know how long he’s been down there by the time he wakes up, but he knows what he wants to do, and he's going to do it. So, he moves from his place on the sand, takes a handful of the smaller glowing stones scattered around the area, and starts swimming up. Up to those humans who claim that they want to help him. Even if their foolish captain is only helping Yuzuru reach his home -like in his dream- to get some money, so be it.

Yuzuru is the heir to the throne of the Great Realm of the Rising Sun, Japan. A young little pirate captain is nothing he can't handle.

With these thoughts in his mind and a little smirk on his lips, he goes up to the surface, and starts swimming towards the familiar one-masted ship.

* * *

Somewhere deep down in the Baltic sea, inside the royal castle of the Russian realm, three teenage princesses are supposed to be getting ready for their marine history class.

"Sasha hurry up! We're gonna be late!" Aliona shouts from the other side of their shared bedroom, while brushing her hair.

"We still have like, 40 minutes left, Aliona. We won't be late." Anna, ever the quiet one, states from her bed, while braiding her hair.

"Yes, but you know how mother expects us to be exactly on time for our classes. Now, hurry up, both of you." Aliona says, and glares at Sasha who's still lazily lying on her bed, still in her pajamas and with her hair all over the place.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm not coming." Sasha says, and turns to lie on her side.

"What?! What do you mean you're not coming?!" Aliona asks, and nearly drops the purple dress she's about to put on.

"I mean exactly what I said. _I'm not coming_."

"Sasha, you can't just not come to one of our classes. Mom will kill you!" Anna says, as she and Aliona both start to come to her bed.

"But it's not just _any_ class. Today's topic is literally ‘princes and princesses who left their royal duties'! You and I both know who they're gonna be talking about."

"Sasha, I know you haven't quite gotten over Zhenya's disappearance, but..."

"But what, Aliona? I should come to this class and listen to some bullshit about my sister for the hundredth time just because ‘mom will get angry’ if I don't? No thanks." Sasha says, and pulls her blanket over her head.

"But Sasha-" Anna starts, but gets interrupted with the sound of the door being pushed open.

Alina, their older sister, and the Second Princess of Russia after Zhenya, enters their room.

"The Queen's sent me to tell you that you will have an extra politics class after-- Holy Oceans have you not yet gotten out of _bed_?!" Alina nearly screams when she notices that all three of her younger sisters are still sitting on Sasha's bed, none of them ready yet.

"Alina, we can explain." Anna suggests.

"No you can't! There is no excuse for a princess to be in this state _minutes_ before an important class!" Alina angrily points at their half-worn dresses and continues, "What are you looking at? Just get the hell ready before I tell the Queen to ground you all!"

"Yes Alina." Aliona and Anna say, and stand up to go get ready. Anna takes Sasha's hand in hers and pulls her up as well.

"Come on Sasha. It's not worth it." Anna whispers to her.

"Alina used to be fun." Sasha whispers back, and with a sigh, follows her sisters to get ready.

When they hear the sound of the door closing, which indicates Alina has left, Sasha mutters, "I just wish Zhenya was still here. Everything was so much better with her."

Anna and Aliona give silent nods in agreement, and they continue getting ready in the heavy silence that always comes when someone mentions Zhenya.

* * *

"Javi, can you stop pacing back and forth?! It won't do any help!" Zhenya snaps. Javier stops to look at her.

"What am I supposed to do then? Dive in head first to look for your merman friend?!" Javi snaps back, his temper shortened by the long hours of waiting for any signs of Yuzuru coming back.

"First of all, he has a _name_ , you know? And no. I don't expect you to dive in and look for him. But you can at least let me fucking _concentrate_ to see what we can do!"

"What _can_ we do?! He's been down there the whole day, and there’s no sign of him coming back up! I _told_ him not to get captured again, for ocean's sake!"

"Calm _down_ , Javi! Weren't you the one who wanted to just leave him here to r-" Zhenya gets interrupted by the excited voice of Jun that calls out from up on the crow's nest, "I can see a glowing thing! It's moving towards us!"

"Fucking hell, a _glowing thing_ attacking us was the last thing we needed tonight!" Javier swears as he takes out his sword, ready for attack. "Where is it coming from, Jun?!" Javier shouts.

"Your one o’clock!" Jun shouts back.

Javier and Zhenya both look that way, and Javier gets to an offensive position.

"Nam, go get Gabby and Jason and the others. We may need to fight this thing." Javier calls out to Nam who's been behind the helm the whole night. Nam nods, and is about to head for the crew's quarters when Zhenya suddenly shouts, "Wait! I know that glow!! It's the Homolapisa that he's holding! It's Yuzuru!"

"What? Are you sure?!" Javier asks, quite confused.

"Yes! That's the magical aura coming out of the stones! They glow in the water." She says, and grab a hold of her own necklace, which is not glowing.

"Oh my goodness, you and your magical stuff will be the death of me!" Javier throws his hands up in the air, and starts going towards the railings.

"I guess our princess can't climb up the ladder with his fins?" Javier asks as he unfolds the rope ladder and throws it down the side of the ship.

"Nope." Zhenya answers.

"Well then, guess _I_ gotta carry him up, since everyone else is so busy?" He mocks Nam and Jun who are both on their posts, and then mutters under his breath, "Sometimes I doubt if I'm their captain or their servant." But then laughs at his own words and starts climbing down the ladder.

Soon after, Yuzuru is there besides the Cricket, and Javier swears he sees him roll his eyes when he spots Javier down there. But Yuzuru doesn't say anything -he's never said anything to Javi, now that he thinks about it- and silently wraps his free hand around Javier's torso, and Javier starts climbing up.

"Don't get too used to climbing up on my back, princess. You're not gonna be doing nothing on my ship, once you get your legs." Javier teases, and Yuzuru just glares, his deathly stare visible, even in the dark of the night.

When they get on the deck and Javier puts Yuzuru down, Zhenya rushes to him and takes the stones in her hands, whispering some words into them that Javier doesn't understand.

"Their magical power needs to be guided in the right direction. Or else, they won’t work." She says as she notices Javier's confused face.

Then, she takes out a thread and wraps it around the smooth surface of one of the smaller stones, turning it into a necklace like hers.

"As long as this is less than a foot away from you, you should be fine." She says as she ties the necklace behind his nape, letting it fall loose around his neck.

After that, they watch in awe as a pale blue glow starts shining from down on Yuzuru's fins, and swirls around his body. Each inch of scales that the glow passes by, a series of black sparkles go up in the air, and the scales turn into skin, and the fins turn into legs. Until finally, he looks every bit like a human that Javier does. Well, apart from the fact that he's stark naked. Though, he doesn't seem to be minding it.

"Uhm... Zhenya..?" Javier calls out as he feels his cheeks warming up in a blush, and he points at Yuzuru's naked form.

Jun starts laughing from high above, and Nam seems to be barely holding back his laughs as well, as Zhenya brings a blanket from her room and puts it on Yuzuru.

"What's wrong with him?" Javier hears Yuzuru ask from Zhenya.

"Well, humans aren't exactly used to seeing the naked lower half of others, you see?" She points at all the clothed forms of the others on the deck, and laughs a bit herself.

Javier swears he sees some sort of a blush form on Yuzuru's cheeks, in the dim light of the single lantern on the deck.

"I see..." Yuzuru whispers, and his cheeks turn even redder as everyone around them explodes into laughter.

After a few seconds when the laughing finally stops, Zhenya takes Yuzuru's hand and helps him stand on his wobbly legs. "Welcome aboard, sailor!" She tells him with a smile.

* * *

Extra Notes:

The three princesses of the Russian realm were inspired by this amazing fan art by figureskatingdrawings on instagram (the link is available below the picture. If you like it, please support the artist <3) :

[Link to the fan art!](https://www.instagram.com/p/B_9-AtCokbE/?igshid=17do6ixr0a3ov)

For Homolapisa stones, we've always had opal stones in mind as reference, so have this pretty picture of opals of different colors!

Also Yuzu and Zhenya's necklaces look something like this:

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like the ship is slowly beginning to sail... just maybe in the wrong direction...  
> Any thoughts?


	5. Hard Labor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A loud BANG comes from somewhere to Yuzuru's left, and he jumps awake at the sound.
> 
> "Wake up crew!" Javier singsongs loudly, and his voice echoes through Yuzuru's ears like an owl's hoot would through a silent night. Yuzuru nearly groans at that.
> 
> "What the fuck?!" Yuzuru mutters as he pulls the blanket away from himself and sits up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! It's Parni this time!  
> Sorry this was a little bit late. I swear we'll get better once my exams finish.  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!

'Too long.'

'Too big.'

'He'd get lost in these.'

'I can fit two of him in this!'

These are the thoughts that pass through Zhenya's head as she takes out sets of spare clothes one by one from the chest they keep in her room, in case someone needed new clothes. Or in Yuzuru's case, his first ever set of human clothes.

 _'Why the hell does he have to be so scrawny?'_ Zhenya thinks, as she unfolds yet another set of clothes that seem to be too big.

Frustrated, she starts digging deeper in the chest, and searches with more urgency than before. It's well past midnight, and everybody else on the ship is already asleep. Well, apart from Jun and Nam who are on their shifts on the deck.

Finally, after unfolding dozens of shirts and pants, Zhenya finds something that might fit him.

"Yuzuru! Can you try this on and see if it fits?" Zhenya turns back to tell Yuzuru. But instead, she finds him curled up in his blanket on the floor, just beside her bed. His breathing is even, and his eyes are closed. He seems to be in a peaceful slumber.

 _'Oh, poor boy.'_ Zhenya thinks, and silently puts the shirt she's picked on her desk.

 _'He must've been dead tired.'_ She thinks, as she herself starts getting ready to sleep.

* * *

A loud BANG comes from somewhere to Yuzuru's left, and he jumps awake at the sound.

"Wake up crew!" Javier singsongs loudly, and his voice echoes through Yuzuru's ears like an owl's hoot would through a silent night. Yuzuru nearly groans at that.

"What the fuck?!" Yuzuru mutters as he pulls the blanket away from himself and sits up. Upon sitting up, he sees Javier standing in Zhenya's doorway, grinning victoriously.

"If his royal highness doesn't know, it's well past sunrise right now. My crew have all already eaten up their breakfast and are off to work."

Yuzuru takes a look around the room, and notices Zhenya's empty bed by his side.

"Where's Zhenya?" He asks, completely ignoring Javier's jerky comment.

"She's also got duties to do on my ship. So do you, princess. Now, get your ass up! You've got a shit ton of work to do!" Javier says, and Yuzuru has to spend every ounce of his willpower not to roll his eyes.

"And oh, don't forget to put those clothes on!" Javier points at the pile of clothes on Zhenya's desk, and his grin grows even wider.

"I'm waiting for you on the main deck, princess. Don't keep me waiting for too long." He does a half-bow, and then leaves the room. And in that moment, Yuzuru swears he could burn holes in Javier's back by the heat of his glare.

* * *

Cleaning! Fucking _cleaning_! It's his glorious job to do on the Cricket, since 'he can't do anything else' as that clown of a captain has stated. So, Yuzuru has been sweeping and scrubbing and dusting around the ship since morning, like some kind of unfortunate servant. And with those threadbare clothes that were the only ones that kind of fit him, he looked nothing better than one.

It wasn't long after starting his job that his body started protesting. His unused muscles started to hurt and cramp, making him more tired than necessary. So, when the nighttime finally falls and the crew slowly start to head down to sleep, Yuzuru wants nothing more than collapse somewhere and sleep. But there is this one tiny problem: He doesn't know _where_ to sleep.

Last night, he fell asleep on the floor in Zhenya's room, yes. But he couldn't possibly stay with her all the time. There should be a spare room or something that he can use.

He looks around the deck to see if he can find someone to ask this, but finds no one but the wicked Fernandez himself.

"Looking for something?" Javier calls out upon noticing Yuzuru's wandering eyes.

Yuzuru stays silent for a few moments, debating whether or not to ask Javier. But finally, with a groan of frustration, he succumbs to his tiredness and mumbles, "I don't know where I should sleep."

"What? I didn't hear you, prin-“

"Fuck, stop calling me that!" Yuzuru nearly shouts. "I said I don't know where I should fucking sleep!"

"Oh well, that's obvious! All the crew members sleep under the deck, in the crew quarters! Just go down the stairs, and go left. It's on the opposite end of the kitchen." He instructs. "Do you want me to help you find it?"

"No!" Yuzuru snaps, and immediately turns back towards the stairs, and starts climbing them down. He then goes left as Javier instructed, and soon enough finds the open door to the quarters. But what he sees is one hundred percent different than what he's had in mind.

The _quarters_ , is actually nothing but a big hall full of net-like things hanging from the ceiling, and clothes and boots and half-eaten meals scattered all around the floor. Some of the crew are lying down on those nets, and others are sitting in a circle on the dirty floor, playing with some sort of cards.

There is a strong smell coming from the hall. A combination of sweat and rotten food. It makes Yuzuru's not-so-used-to-smells nose wrinkle up, and he feels an urge to throw up his dinner.

So, before anyone even notices him, he turns his back to the hall, goes back on the deck and towards Zhenya's room.

 _'There's no way I can stay down there.'_ He thinks, as he opens the door to Zhenya's room.

"Yuzuru? What are you doing here? Is everything alright? Javi told me that he sent you down to sleep with the others." Zhenya says, a little confused, as she looks up from the book she was reading.

"Yes but... can I just stay here? Please." Yuzuru asks, and prays the oceans that Zhenya agrees.

"Sure! Just, let me prepare something for you to sleep on. You slept on hardwood floor last night!"

"Um, but… you don't have to. I mean, I don't wanna bother you. I can sleep on the floo-"

"Don't be silly Yuzuru." Zhenya smiles. "Just help me pull out these blankets from under the bed please?"

"Ah, sure!" Yuzuru says as he heads off to help.

* * *

Deep inside the Baltic Sea, a royal court is being held inside the Russian castle. Inside the court, the whole Russian royal family -or well, the remains of it- are sitting on their seats, at the end of the hall.

Queen Eteri is sitting in the middle, with her blond hair falling on her shoulders, and her delicate golden crown on top of it. She's wearing a silver-adorned bra that matches her light gray fins, and is sitting with her back straight and her head held high.

Sitting on her right is the second princess, Princess Alina. Her brown hair is pulled in a low bun, and her golden diadem adorns the top of her head. Her ivory dress complements her steel blue fins, and she looks everything that a princess should be. Exactly the opposite of how her younger sister, Sasha, is looking like.

Sitting on the last seat on the left, with her nearly hunched form and her hand under her chin, Sasha looks like a bored teenager in a classroom. Her braided hair is pulled up in a bun behind her head. The crystals on her dark blue bra and the crown on her head are the only things that make her look somewhat like a princess.

Sitting on the left side of the Queen is Aliona, wearing her favorite purple bra that matches her fins perfectly. Her hair is half pulled up in a braid, and half falls down on her shoulders, highlighting the shine of her silky hair.

Next to her is Anna, with her hair delicately braided and tied in a bun with a red ribbon. She's wearing her red dress which doesn't fit her purple fins at all. But she likes it that way, even if her mother doesn't quite appreciate her fashion sense.

Sasha takes a glance to her right, to see what her younger sisters are doing. 'Are you two bored as well, or is it just me?' She thinks with herself, as she looks at her sisters' direction.

Kamila, who's sitting on the right side of Alina, looks almost as bored as Sasha. She's leaned her head on the back of her chair, and looks like she might drop off to sleep at any given moment.

On the far right side, their youngest sister, Sofia, with her almost peculiar red fins, is looking out the court room's window, and is clearly daydreaming about going on dolphin rides or something.¹

Sasha doesn't realize she's been acting too obvious, until Anna whispers, "Sasha! Mom's looking at you!"

Sasha turns her head to see Eteri giving her one of her death glares, and quickly corrects her hunched posture and sits up straight. Just like the princess she's supposed to be.

After another few minutes, and after Lord Something-something-ov finally leaves the court, and before Lady Something-something-ova enters, Eteri turns her head to look at Sasha, and the storm starts.

"Sasha, do you think the court is some sort of boring theater?" Eteri asks, fully devoid of any emotions. And it makes her scarier than necessary.

 _'It's even more boring.'_ Sasha thinks. But knows better than to say that. “No, mother.” She says instead.

"Then get your hands on your lap and sit appropriately, young lady. Next time I see you do that, you won't be allowed to attend your self-defence lessons."

"But mom…!" Sasha starts, irritated with even the thought of losing her only favorite time of the week.

"I don't want to hear any words." Eteri firmly says.

“Also," She starts again. "Don't think I didn't see you dosing off." She eyes Kamila. "I want you to write full reports of the courts from now on, because you have seemingly forgotten what 'paying attention' means." Eteri scolds her.

"You too!” She turns to her left to glare at Sofia.

“And Anna, if you wear this dress one more time in my presence, I’ll make sure you'll never see it again. Understood?"

"Yes mother…" Anna whispers.

"Good."

* * *

 _'Three days!'_ Javier thinks as he spots a muddy area on the deck that Yuzuru was supposed to clean. _'He's been on my ship for three days, and so far has done nothing but mess around my deck! He can't even_ clean _properly!'_

He looks around the ship to find Yuzuru and tell him to clean that spot, but doesn't find him anywhere around the deck. So he asks the people on the deck, "Has anyone seen Yuzuru?"

Gabby, who has been leaning on the mast and cleaning her endless set of blades and daggers, looks up and says, "Oh yeah! I sent him down to clean the weapons' room a little. Those pretties down there are eating dust everyday."

"You really do love these steels like your children, don't you?" Javier teases and Gabby laughs in response, before Javier makes his way down the stairs and to the orlop.

When he reaches the weapons room's door, he finds Yuzuru facing the swords' shelf on the wall, looking down on something. And as he takes a closer look, he realizes that Yuzuru is actually holding one of the swords in his hand, carefully examining it.

"Is the princess interested in swords?" Javier asks in a mocking tone.

Yuzuru's head whips back towards Javier, and there's a shining in his eyes that Javier can't quite place. It looks like a burning fire.

"This princess can actually use a sword, bastard!" Yuzuru spits out the words, and he suddenly all but lunges himself towards Javier, with the sword still in his hands. Though he’s too slow, and Javier dodges him easily.

“Too slow!” Javier calls out.

Yuzuru regains his balance and attacks Javi again. This time, he crashes into the wall behind Javi when Javi moves and his sword falls out of his hand.

“Aim before you strike! Seriously, what did they teach you in court?!”

Yuzuru is angry. He’s been ridiculed, belittled and mocked in the last few days, more than he’s ever been in his entire life. He knows he’s good with a sword, he’s been training with the best swords masters in the court since he could hold a sword. He's just not used to having legs, and he’s definitely not used to everything being so heavy, specially himself. But that’s not going to stop him from trying. So, he picks up his sword and runs towards the stairs.

“Trying to use the advantage of height. Not bad!”

Javi picks a sword too and goes after him. Yuzu sees that he can’t hold his ground on the stairs, so he runs up to the deck. Not long after, Javi follows him. All of the crew members stop what they’re doing and begin screaming “Fight! Fight!” in unison, and cheer for Javier.

Yuzuru’s getting a bit more used to sparring with legs. He defends himself against a few more of Javier’s blows. But eventually, his arms get tired and with the last blow, his sword flies out of his hand and he hits the ground.

“Not bad for a newbie, princess, not bad at all!” Javi holds his hand out to help him up. Yuzuru reluctantly takes it.

“Gabby! You’ll train with him two hours everyday from now on.” Javier says to Gabby.

“Oh come on Javi! I have better things to do!” Gabby complains.

“I can’t come to princess’s rescue every time he’s in trouble. He needs to learn to defend himself. And oh, I wasn’t asking. That was an order.” Javier fixes Gabby with a look. She mutters a 'whatever', before she turns back to cleaning her swords.

Javier turns back to Yuzuru. “But maybe you can come to my room tonight, for a ‘private sparring lesson’, eh?” He smirks.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, _captain_. Specially considering the fact that you blush at the first sight of a _sword_.” Yuzuru retaliates, smirking viciously.

The whole crew either burst in laughter, or are trying their best not to laugh. Javi feels like his face is on fire.

“What are you all looking at?! Get back to your posts, or there won’t be any supper for you tonight!”

Everyone scrambles away as fast as they can, their sounds of dissatisfaction audible even from the distance. Javi turns around and finds Yuzuru still smirking at him. _‘Oh I will wipe that smirk off your face…’_ He thinks, before he says the words that will do just that.

“And you, I want my deck scrubbed spotless before you go to bed tonight. And this time, do it properly! Understood?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. In case you got confused about the whole Russian princesses and how they were sitting, they are seven sisters: Evgenia, Alina, Aliona, Anna, Sasha, Kamila, and Sofia(Akatyeva).  
> And their order of sitting in the court was like this from left to right: Sasha, Anna, Aliona, Eteri, Alina, Kamila, Sofia.
> 
> _________  
> 
> 
> So, Yuzu's starting to strike back, huh?  
> And Javi is not quite buying it ;D
> 
> What did you think about this chapter? Liked it? Hated it? Neither? Both? Let us know in the comment ^^


	6. New Aquintances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "How long have you been doing this?"
> 
> Gabby, a bit taken aback by the sudden question, asks, "Doing what?"
> 
> “Sword-fighting, knife-throwing, and all of this." Yuzuru points at the many big and small blades that are hanging off of Gabrielle's clothes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> I... don't even know what to say. I'm so sorry for the delay. part of it was because Parni had her university entrance exam, the other part was me being lazy as hell to edit an already-written chapter. To make up for it, even just a bit, this chapter is longer than all the previous ones. In this chapter, we'll get to delve into some of our favorite characters, know their pasts and maybe, understand them a bit better. Enjoy!

"Mind your steps boy! You're tripping over yourself!" Gabby calls out Yuzuru's poor stance, that more often than not has made him collapse on the wooden floor of the deck.

"I'm sorry." Yuzuru mumbles as he gets himself back together, and gets ready for another round of attacks from Gabby.

They’re working on defenses for now, Gabby has decided. Because it's more likely that Yuzuru would need to defend himself than to attack someone. Or at least, that's what Gabby and Javier are saying. Because in Yuzuru's mind, he needs neither.

* * *

_"Zhenya, I've trained with Kikuchi-san for years! You know how much of a legendary swordsman he is. I know how to use a sword. I don't need lessons from some goddamn random pirate!"_

_"Gabby's not a random pirate, Yuzu. She probably owns more blades than all of Kikuchi-san's pupils altogether. Believe me, you will need these lessons."_

_"And why is that? It's not like I'm a kid-"_

_"It's because air is nothing like water. Your movements are all different up here. You think I hadn't had fighting lessons back at home? I did, but again, I trained up here to get the hang of it. But don't worry, you'll learn soon."_

_"I hope so."_

* * *

An unexpected force hits his forearm and sends his wooden sword flying across the deck, as Gabby's voice comes from his side.

"For the ocean's sake, stop daydreaming in the middle of a fight! Are you even listening to what I'm saying?" Her voice is not irritated. But it's not the most proud tone either.

"I'm sorry, Got distracted for a second. Let’s try again.” He suggests.

"Nah, no need. Your two hours is already up. You can go do whatever you want." Gabby says as she takes out a set of her daggers and starts throwing them on the targets she's set around the deck.

Yuzuru looks at the way her body moves. Gracefully, and with a precision that comes only with years of practice. Zhenya was right, Gabby is not any random pirate. She's the person that you want to have by your side in a battle, since she can take down a dozen of the enemies before they can even get anywhere near you. She’s the perfect person to help Yuzuru survive on this ship for the rest of this long journey. He knows that if he wants to get to Japan in one piece, he needs allies. And what better ally to have than someone like Gabby?

So, without really thinking much more on the matter, Yuzuru approaches Gabby and tries to start a conversation, "How long have you been doing this?"

Gabby, a bit taken aback by the sudden question, asks, "Doing what?"

“Sword-fighting, knife-throwing, and all of _this_." Yuzuru points at the many big and small blades that are hanging off of Gabrielle's clothes.

"Oh, this? I've been around swords and knives my whole life." She shrugs, and then continues, "Growing up with a blacksmith father, ya’ know?"

"Oh, I see." Yuzuru whispers. But then immediately, a new question comes to his mind. "Wait, but how did you become a pirate? I mean, I haven't seen many female pirates, or sailors, or just... I'm sorry, I don’t mean to offend you. I just mean that-"

“Hey, chill. I get it ." Gabby chuckles. "And you’re right, you know? There really ain’t many female sailors, let alone pirates. No captain wants 'weaklings' who bring bad luck on his ship. And believe me when I say _no captain_. Back in the day, I went around asking all em’ captains to let me on their ship. But guess what? They all just turned me down. All except for Javi, he took me in right away. And always treated me like the other boys, that lad. I probably would've ended up on the streets if not for Javi." She explains.

That was unexpected. Yuzuru never thought of Javier as a captain who would be quite thrilled by the idea of a woman among his crew. He assumed Gabby was there because someone else persisted on it or something and Javier just went with it. He also didn’t expect to hear that Javi was nice to her from the start. So unlike his behavior towards Yuzuru. So unlike how he's constantly ordering him around, and mocking him for every single thing he does. So, not long after, Yuzuru finds himself saying, "This Javi you just talked about sounds so different from the one that bosses me around all day long. Has he been possessed by a fae or something?"

"Haha, no, Yuzuru!" Gabbrielle smiles at him. "It's just that he's never liked royalty. He's been like th-" Gabby gets cut off mid-sentence when Jeffrey calls her from the other end of deck, asking for assistance in tying the sails down in the right direction. And Gabby leaves to join him.

* * *

In the Russian castle, Queen Eteri is sitting in her office, reading the reports on the preparations for their upcoming meeting with the King of America, Rafael. Their countries have always been at peace. And now, they are working towards building a permanent alliance. And Eteri is making sure that their stay in the Russian realm will be the most comfortable.

Just as she's about to finish the reports, a knock on the door echoes in the room, followed by the voice of her announcer.

"Captain Ivan Bukin of the 7th search unit seeks audience with the Queen."

Upon hearing the name, Eteri lets go of the reports and puts down her pen. Bukin's unit is the 7th unit she's sent to look for her missing daughter. And they were the first unit that had order to go look on the land as well. They were supposed to start their search from Morocco and go all the way to Algeria, and their mission was expected to take around 6 months. It's been less than that now, and Eteri can't help thinking that maybe they've found something. Some clue or anything else that might lead them to Zhenya. Her beloved firstborn who has somehow hidden herself from the observant magic of Eteri. And no matter how many hours Eteri spends looking inside her mirror, she finds nothing of Zhenya.

 _'But perhaps they have found something.'_ She thinks, and her hopes skyrocket instantly. She has to try hard to maintain a neutral voice as she calls out, "Let him in."

A moment later, the double doors to her office open, and Bukin swims inside.

"Your Majesty." He says as he bows down his head, looking not as excited as Eteri had hoped.

"Captain." Eteri answers, "Did you find anything?"

"No, my Queen." Bukin states, as he lifts his head up. "We searched all the coastline, and a bit more south. But there is no sign of her. I'm afraid she might have travelled far away from the Mediterranean by now, if our assumptions about her being on land is true."

"I see." Eteri whispers, and this time her disappointment shows in her voice.

"You're dismissed." She announces as she reaches out towards her desk drawer where she keeps her mirror, and pulls it out.

"Show me my Zhenya." She calls to the mirror, and like all the times before, it shows nothing but Eteri's reflection.

* * *

_"Mama, why can't I see pretty things in your mirror?" A 4-year-old Zhenya's asks a younger Eteri who's sitting with her in the middle of their garden._

_"But you are seeing pretty things in there, aren't you?"_

_"No, I'm only seeing myself!" Zhenya pouts._

_"Exactly. And you are the prettiest thing this mirror can show." Eteri says as she caresses Zhenya's hair._

* * *

The memory suddenly passes through her mind, and she feels a single tear trickle down the side of her cheek.

"Please, show me my daughter." She begs the mirror this time, and again, it remains unchanged.

* * *

_"When I grow up, will I see far faraway in a mirror, like you? Can I see the humans?" Zhenya's little voice comes from where she's sitting between Eteri's legs, while Eteri is braiding her hair._

_A 2-year-old Alina has fallen a sleep on Eteri's lap, and Eteri whispers her answer to not disturb her younger daughter. "Oh no, my sweet girl. Even I can't see the humans. My magic only shows under the water, you see." Eteri explains. "But maybe you can have another cooler type of magic, huh? Do you like that? Do you want to have super speed, or maybe invisibility?"_

_"Nooooo." Zhenya whines._

_"What do you want then? Which magic's your favorite?" Eteri asks as she finishes the braid._

_"Well I want to help people, just like a good princess is supposed to…” Eteri smiles down at her. She already has a great sense of responsibility, despite her young age._

_Zhenya grabs her chin with her small hand, thinking hard for a few seconds, and says with excitement, “Oh I know! I want to heal!"_

* * *

She wanted to heal. She wanted to heal from the very start. And Eteri was very happy for her, when her magic blossomed, and she turned out to be a healer. What Eteri didn’t know, was that healing was what she wanted to do for life. She didn't know, and she was blind to that. So blind that she never noticed her daughter's dissatisfaction in her politics’ classes and formal meetings. So blind that she never noticed Zhenya's plan to run. She was stupid enough to leave her magic mirror at home when they left for AquaGala, a year ago. And she didn't notice when Zhenya sneaked in the Japanese caravan to abandon her crown.

But Eteri hasn't lost hope. Not yet. So again, she holds her mirror up, and asks, this time more sternly. "Show me my daughter!”

* * *

Everyone in the quarters are getting ready to sleep, and Jason is collecting the pieces of the board game they've been playing off the floor, when Conrad enters the quarters.

 _'He's back sooner than usual'_ Jason thinks, and smiles to himself. Because every time, when Jun goes up to take on the watch duty from Conrad, it takes at least half an hour before Conrad gets back down. What the two of them do up there all alone and in the middle of the night, Jason can only guess.

"Guys you can't believe it!" Conrad says as he enters the room.

"Believe what? That your boyfriend kicked you out tonight? You're back early." Joseph smirks from the other end of the room, earning a "Oh fuck off" from Conrad.

"What is it then?" Raya asks as he settles himself on his hammock.

"It's that Yuzuru guy. He's still working up there!" Conrad says and then crouches down to take off his boots.

"What?" It's Jason's turn to ask. "This late at night?!"

"Yeah! Apparently Javi's told him that he should sand all the rough parts on the railings or something before he goes to bed. He was already working on it when I started my shift after dinner. He didn't even leave the deck once." Conrad explains.

"Holy shit, he wasn't there for dinner, was he? He must be starving. Dinner was hours ago!" Jason stands up from where he was sitting on the floor, and heads towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Conrad, who's just finished taking off his sword belt, asks.

"Getting some food for Yuzuru."

"I'm coming with you." Conrad immediately says.

Joseph whistles. “Lover boy can't resist, huh?”

"Shut up Joseph!" Conrad laughs, and everyone else in the room follow suit.

* * *

By the time Jason and Conrad get to the deck, with a bowl of dried meat and cold mashed potatoes, Yuzuru has just finished sanding the railings, and is washing his chaffed hands in the single bucket of sea water on the deck. Cursing rather loudly as the salt invades his bruised skin and makes his reddened hands sting.

Jason looks hesitantly at Conrad for a second, before he starts moving towards Yuzuru. With bowls of food in his hands.

"Hey, Yuzuru?" Jason asks unsure.

"What? Got more chores for me?" Yuzuru snaps and whips his head up. But when he sees Jason's face under the dim light of the lantern he's holding in one hand, and the tray of food on the other, his expression softens.

"No, no. It's just that... I thought you may be hungry. So we brought you some food." He nods at Conrad's direction, and Conrad waves awkwardly from behind.

"Oh." Yuzuru says, and Jason sees his cheeks blush a bit. "I'm sorry for-"

"Not at all!" Jason interrupts him. "Come on, let's sit down.”

"Ok, sure." Yuzuru says, and sits down next to Jason. Conrad joins them soon after.

Yuzuru starts eating almost immediately after Jason puts the tray in front of him. But as soon as the first bite of the dried meat enters his mouth, his whole face contorts. And he all but spits it all out.

"What the hell is this?!"

"Dried meat. Why do you ask?" Jason asks.

"It's... gosh, how do you guys eat this?" Yuzuru says, and Jason snorts at that.

"What?!" Yuzuru asks, looking somehow irritated. "Am I a joke or something?"

"No, no! Not at all." Jason says as he takes a glance towards Conrad, and a wide grin grows on his face. "I just remembered how Conrad couldn't eat a single meal without nagging when he first joined the crew."

"Hey! What are you guys doin' down there?" A shout comes from up above, and they all look up to see Jun's head poking out of the crow's nest.

"We were just about to humiliate the shit out of Conrad! You're welcome to join us." Jason shouts back. Hearing that, Jun starts to climb down the mast.

"Oh Yuzu you will love this one!" Jun says as soon as he's down on the deck, and Yuzuru feels a flicker of warmth in his chest at hearing the nickname, 'Yuzu'. It's been so long that he hadn't heard it from anyone other than Zhenya.

"When Conrad first joined us, after we set sail, he didn't go to the bathroom for two whole days! Can you imagine?!"

"Hey I wasn't used to anything other than marble toilet and sink. It was quite a _change_ to get used to!"

"Wait, marble?" Yuzuru says, "You were rich?" Yuzuru asked, quite surprised.

"Well we were comfortable..." answers Conrad.

" _‘Comfortable’_ ? Boy, the 'rags' you used as handkerchief were fancier than my entire closet! My closet ‘before’ joining the crew!" Jason counters.

"Ok, Ok, I was rich. My dad was a wealthy merchant and we lived in a fancy mansion. You satisfied now?" Conrad says as he folds his arms to his chest in fake annoyance.

"But why did you leave all that behind to join a ship? And a pirate ship at that! No offense..." Yuzuru says.

"It's ok." Conrad starts, "I was just... tired, you know? Tired of having every second of my every day planned out for me, my dad wanted me to be his successor, but spending my days in big meetings with prissy wealthy snobs? That just wasn't me. So I just ran away and kinda hopped on the first ship in the harbor, which happened to be the Cricket. I don't regret anything though, I'm tellin' you."

"Just sayin', but you got lucky that Javi took you in." Jason points out. "I'm pretty sure I heard him say that he won't be adopting any more kids, after he took Jun in."

"Oh boy, you're right," Jun admits. "At one point after I joined, the ship looked like a kindergarten, with me and Joseph running around the deck."

"Wait how old were you when you joined the crew? I thought a pirate ship - or any ship, really - wasn't a place for children." Yuzuru asks with curiosity. A lot of things he had learned about humans as a child, and on the Angel, were proving to be wrong on the Cricket.

"Well that's because it isn't." Jun answers. "Javi was kind enough to take me under his wing and save me from starving on the streets."

At that, Yuzuru almost laughs. "Javier? Kindness? Come on, are you talking about the same Javi I know?” He says.

"Oh but it's true!" Jason replies. "Jun was an orphan on the streets of Seoul, left to die by the orphanage that ran out of budget. He wouldn't have survived without Javi's help."

 _‘Me neither,’_ Jason almost adds. But he stops himself right before it gets out. Instead he says, "Yuzuru, you might want to start eating your meal and getting ready to sleep. You as well." He points as Conrad. "Javi won't let us sleep longer just because we've stayed up late."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what are your thoughts? Whose backstory was your favorite? Please let us know. And as always, thank you all for your support<3


	7. Trials & Tribulations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuzuru has no idea what happens, or how it happens. One second everything is going well, and the next a group of men with drawn swords swarm the deck and start fighting the Cricket’s crew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Parni here!  
> We're finally back! And we're going to STAY because we have like, 4 more chapters written and ready to be posted as of today! And there will hopefully be 3 more until the end of November.
> 
> I'm so sorry we're delayed again. I somehow fell head first on one of these October writing challenges, and was fully focusing on this other story I'm publishing on my tumblr.
> 
> (*plays drum rolls* my project on tumblr is also somehow inspired by Yuzu and Javier - even though I've changed the names and backstories - and it's actually about 25k words written so it's almost double this fic's size, haha. Imma leave a link here to its masterlist for anyone who might be interested:
> 
> https://whumpfigure.tumblr.com/post/630782812004499456/bastetaustin-masterlist
> 
> The story itself is kind of dark and falls on modern slavery side but I assure you that it's not sexual, and every chapter is properly - or at least I hope it's properly - tagged with content warnings. I'd be really glad if y'all wanted to check it out. Feel free to DM me on tumblr if the whole box boy stuff sounded alien to you, haha)
> 
> So yeah, this whole tumblr story was why this chapter got delayed. Holefully it won't happen again.
> 
> Love you all, hope you like this chapter <3

Yuzuru is standing right outside of the infirmary, watching the raid. Zhenya was so excited to show him how their raids go. How they carry the whole thing without killing anyone. How great their methods are.

Conrad spotted the Opal - an apparently very wealthy ship from the Eastern Mediterranean. They waited up until it was dark to begin the raid. Around midnight, Jason and Raya started shooting their arrows. Everything seems to be going well as most of the crew sneak onto the Opal. Opal’s crew seem to be asleep.

Suddenly a battle cry rings in the dark of the night.

Yuzuru has no idea what happens, or _how_ it happens. One second everything is going well, and the next a group of men with drawn swords swarm the deck and start fighting the Cricket’s crew.

"Yuzuru, clear the deck!" Javier suddenly appears next to him, and shoves him inside the infirmary. “Stay in there!” Javier orders. Yuzuru lands on his back on the floor, and before he has time to get up, Javier closes the door and leaves.

"What the _fuck_?!" Yuzuru mutters to himself as he gets up. He’s still in shock, trying to understand what’s going on. 

Outside, there’s shouting, swords clattering and footsteps running on wood. He can hear Javier's voice commanding the crew, and then comes the sound of canons. There’s a full-on battle going on.

Now what? the safest course of action would be doing as Javier commanded, staying in here until it’s all over. But what if they lose? The other ship’s crew are gonna find him sooner or later and if they find out he’s a merman…

He shivers at the thought. He can’t be caught again. He should get out there and fight. If his odds start to look slim, he can just jump in the ocean and escape. Zhenya said that he will have fins again once in the sea. 

Or did she? Everything is jumbled up in his head. All he knows is that he refuses to be caught again. So he picks the closest thing to a weapon he can find - a broomstick - and gets on the deck.

Outside, there is chaos. The youngsters are on the enemies' ship, trying desperately to fight them off. Gabby is also there with them, using her dual swords to fight off two enemies at once to protect the kids. Her sleeve seems soaked up, but Yuzuru can't tell if it's water or blood. High up on the crow's nest, Jason and Raya are shooting arrow after arrow at the enemy. Nam and Jeffrey are fiddling with the canons, but it doesn’t seem to be going well. The wooden bridge is still connecting the two ships and the Opal’s crew start swarming Cricket's deck.

Javier has his sword out, and launches himself at one of the intruders. Swords clatter and the two of them move in practice steps trying to take the other one down. Both too focused on their fight to notice anything else. Not even when an enemy sneaks up on Javier with his sword out and ready to strike.

Yuzuru launches himself at the man, and strikes him in the back of the head with his broomstick. The man groans, drops his sword and falls down to the floor, before he can land a blow.

Soon after, a shout rings beside him and Yuzuru whips his head around, afraid that anyone from their side is injured. But instead he finds Javier twisting his sword in the stomach of the person he had been fighting, and feels relieved. He doesn't like the captain, but he doesn't want him dead.

Javier glares at Yuzuru. But before Yuzuru can say anything, he turns around and runs to the railings facing the Opal.

"Retreat!" Javier shouts with all his might, and Gabby and the youngsters start running towards the Cricket right after.

* * *

A knock echoes through Alina's room just as she's about to secure the last pin on her carefully done hair.

"Come in." Alina calls out in her princess voice, and stands up to greet whoever has knocked.

"Good morning, your grace." Says the familiar voice of the brown haired boy in the doorway.

"Dima!" Alina almost shouts out of surprise, and throws herself at him. Dmitry hugs her back.

"Long time no see!" Alina says as she breaks the hug after a few seconds. With a big smile on her face. "Were your adventures fun, Sergeant Aliev?" Alina smirks.

"As fun as a mission with Bukin could be." Dmitry sighs dramatically, and Alina giggles.

“At least you weren’t stuck with _Samarin_!" Alina says as she starts moving out of her room towards the throne room while Dmitry trails behind her.

"Samarin? Sasha Samarin? What about him?"

It's Alina's turn to sigh dramatically. Although the smile never leaves her face. "He was your substitute while you were gone. And gosh have I ever met a more boring person?!"

Dmitry outright laughs at it. "Oh my god, are you kidding me?"

"I swear to god! I’ve never met anyone so dull in my life! And did you know that he can sleep while standing, and _snore_?!”

"It's obvious that you miss your old guard now, don’t you?" Dima says with a cheeky grin.

"Of _course_ I miss you!" Alina nudges at his arm. They're still close to the princesses' quarters, so it's ok for her to be more careless. No one will see her here. "It's the first time you've been away for so long since we were kids."

"Fair point." Dmitry agrees. "Anyways, what do you think about the American Prince? You'll be meeting him today, right?"

"Oh you mean Nathan?" Alina asks. "Yeah, they'll arrive today. Didn't you notice my entire outfit?" Alina gestures to herself and the intricate design of her bra and the jewelry she's wearing. "It's for ‘impressing the American royal family’. Though I doubt _Nathan_ of all people would care about my clothings." Alina chuckles.

"Still a nerd, huh?" Dmitry asks. He has seen Nathan once in AquaGala when they were both seven. Dmitry was there because his father was in the royal council back then.

"He's _such_ a nerd! You have no idea!" Alina says and they both laugh. Albeit more quietly, since they're in the more crowded parts of the palace now. "He knows literally everything. Ask him about the stars and he talks about them as if he's seen them himself."

They take a turn, and Alina looks outside one of the grand window on the right side of the hallway. The entrance to the castle is visible from there, and she can see the fancy dark black carriages of the Americans moving through the gates.

"Hurry Dima, we're running late." Alina warns, and they start swimming faster towards the throne room where Alina will be meeting with the American royal family.

When they reach the throne room, Alina holds her head high, drops her careless expression, and walks down the hall to sit on her throne like the perfect princess she is.

"You're late." Eteri says in her natural cool tone, without even looking at Alina. Alina's used to it though. It doesn't irritate her anymore.

"I'm sorry mother." She mutters, right before the horns start playing, and the doors to the throne room open.

"Welcoming King Rafael of America. Crown Prince, Nathan of America. Second Prince, Camden of America." The announcer introduces the guests as they come in. Alina and Eteri stand up as a matter of respect.

King Rafael moves in the middle, wearing his usual black vest adorned with jewelry that matches his dark grey tail.

Prince Nathan swims on his right. He has wrapped a fur-like fabric made from the most rare black seaweeds around his shoulders. It's decorated with stripes of white fabrics, and perfectly matches his white-speckled black tail.

Camden is swimming on the left, and is wearing a deep blue shirt adorned by big crystals in an asymmetric fashion, that frankly, does not fit his burgundy tail at all. Alina can't help giggling when she sees the mismatched colors. He will definitely get along well with Anna.

Her mom and Rafael have already started talking. Exchanging pleasantries, discussing politics, and finally about the possible upcoming arranged marriage and the measurements that have to be taken.

All the while, Alina is looking at Nathan from under her eye. They’ve talked to each other before, but they can’t exactly be called friends, merely acquaintances. Nathan catches her eye and they exchange polite smiles.

Nathan is a good guy, really. He's kind and very smart and good-looking. She could’ve done much worse for an arranged marriage, but it doesn’t change the fact that she feels absolutely nothing for him.

"Perhaps it's better we let the children spend some time together, don’t you agree?” Her mother asks, and Alina shakes off whatever thoughts were wandering her mind.

Her smile widens slightly, and she serenely says, “Would you like to visit the gardens, prince Nathan?”

* * *

It's been a while since everyone came back onto the Cricket and the ship set sail on the highest speed. They are already far away from the ship they tried to rob.

Yuzuru's mopping the blood off the floor where the two dead bodies of the enemy crew had dropped. Everyone is looking depressed and out of mood, busying themselves with something; mopping, cleaning, basically anything to stop them from thinking about their massive failure.

In the infirmary, Zhenya is checking up on every crew member, and is patching up those who are injured. None of them are serious, but some of them need stitches nonetheless.

On the other side of the ship, Javier is pacing the length of the ship. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and-

He suddenly stops. Yuzuru stops sweeping, and looks over to see Javier glaring at Nam - who's holding tight onto the helm.

"What the fuck were you doing while we were all fighting?" Javier asks. He’s speaking with a low and calm voice, which is honestly much scarier than his shouting voice. 

"Jeffrey and I were trying to get the canons-"

"Exactly! You were wasting time on the canons. But where were those canons when we were escaping that goddamn ship, and they hit _my_ ship with _their_ canons?!" Javier points at the place where a part of the railing is blown up.

"Do you have _any idea_ how much it'd cost me to repair that?"

Yuzuru can't help but feel bad for Nam. He knows how it feels like to be on the other side of Javier's anger, and if anything, it's unnerving.

"Javi, Nam didn't do anything wrong. The canons had technical issues." Jeffrey tries to defend Nam.

" _Technical issues!_ Last time I checked it was his own duty to check the goddamn things!" Javi nearly shouts this time. The Captain used to shout like this on the Angel. Whether it was at Yuzu himself, or at those crew members that decided to be a little bit kinder than usual to him. And after the shouts came the knives and daggers and pain and tears and-

Suddenly, Javier turns to him. His face is red from all the shouting.

“And you! You’ve ruined everything! again!” He starts getting closer. 

“Who let you come out of the infirmary? Who do you think you are, huh? Well I’ll tell you what,” At this point, Javier’s so close to Yuzuru’s face that he can feel Javier’s breath on his face as he shouts. 

“I don’t fucking care who you are back home. On this ship, I _give_ the orders and you fucking _obey_ them. The next time you disobey me, I will throw you in the sea and you can swim back home by yourself.”

“What the fuck Fernandez?!” Yuzuru would have been too scared to respond after being shouted at like that under normal circumstances, but that was the last straw.

“I saved your ass out there, you ungrateful asshole! If it wasn’t for me you would’ve died!”

“I had the situation under control! I didn’t need your help, you just made everything harder! I know you’re used to giving orders instead of taking them princess, since you’re a spoiled brat just like all royalty, but…” Javier couldn’t finish before Yuzuru interrupted him by yelling at the top of his lungs. 

“Stop pretending like you know me! You know nothing about me! I should have let you die.” and with that, he storms off the deck and into Zhenya’s room.

The crew is flabbergasted as they watch Yuzuru slam shut the door. Even Javier seems to be taken aback, but he composes himself quickly and as soon as he glares at the crew, everyone goes back to what they were doing, pretending like nothing happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any thoughts about what will happen to Yuzu and Javi after that lil fight there?👀


	8. When All Seems Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was an exhausting night for Zhenya. Preparing for raids already made her tired every time. But this time, it was much more than the raid itself.

It was an exhausting night for Zhenya. Preparing for raids already made her tired every time. Not overly tired like last night, but tired nonetheless. But this time, it was much more than the raid itself.

After they started using the drugs on their raids, she barely fought anymore. She would just prepare the herbs, and maybe go on board of the other ship to find some medicine. But last night, she was stuck in a full-on battle after the raid went wrong. And when the fight finished and everyone slumped somewhere to rest, Zhenya still had to patch up all the wounds and check others for internal injuries.

She hasn't slept well. Neither has Javi. After that little showdown with Yuzu, Yuzu ran into Zhenya's room and locked the door. So Zhenya was left outside to deal with a pissed off Javier. They sat on the deck all night until it was well into the morning and the lines of the shore became more and more visible as Jeffrey guided the ship towards Pilos1.

She's been to Greece before, but to bigger cities like Athens, not a small city like Pilos. It's not worth the effort, trading in small cities. That's why they never dock at them, unless it's an emergency. And now, it _is_ an emergency. A considerable part of the railing is destroyed and it needs to be fixed, Zhenya has almost ran out of herbs, and she's heard from Ghislain that they're low on food supplies as well. Pilos is big enough of a city to meet these needs.

The port is just five minutes away, now that they're close. Zhenya can clearly see the colorful ships - mostly locals - lined up along the port. There is one ship that catches her eyes. A black brig with two rows of black sails. Being a brig, it's bigger than most of the local ships and boats, and its color makes it stand out against the browns and yellows of the port.

"That's a beautiful ship there." Zhenya muses out loud, and looks fondly at it.

Javier looks up from the sword he's been vigorously cleaning for the past fifteen minutes, and glances at the ship.

"Oh the black brig? That's the Empress. Expensive one, that ship."

“Mm hm." Zhenya hums as they get closer to the port.

Finally, the ship comes to a stop as Joseph and Nam lower the anchor. She watches as Raya gets their wooden bridge, and pushes it down to connect the deck to the wooden surface of the port.

Usually everyone's hyped when they dock somewhere. But now, everyone is just exhausted. Zhenya doubts anyone has gotten a good sleep.

Zhenya and Javi, both leaning against the railings, do nothing but look around. There are bags under their eyes.

Suddenly, the loud sound of a door being swung open and hitting the wall startles them. Zhenya and Javi both whip their heads to the side to see a furious Yuzuru storming out of Zhenya’s room. He moves fast and with heavy, angry steps towards the bridge.

"Yuzu!" Zhenya calls out as Yuzuru gets on the bridge and storms down to the port. Zhenya starts to run after him, but Javi grabs her shoulder.

"Let him go." He says with an exhausted voice laced with still-there annoyance. “He doesn’t have anywhere to go. He’ll come back, eventually."

* * *

Up north in the Russian waters, the coral gardens are as beautiful as ever. Pink and yellow and bright red corals, big and small, cover all around the cliff that the castle's built on. Alina moves in between them with graceful familiarity. Nathan follows right after her, and Dima stays several steps behind, keeping a close eye on them without interrupting their time together. Alina is glad that Dima's back. She'd missed her bodyguard and childhood friend.

"You have a beautiful country." Nathan says as he touches one of the blue corals and smiles.

"Thank you. So do you." Alina's never been to the American realm, but she's heard of their vast ocean beds and abundant magical traits. Even powers as rare as Arcana can be found in America. Prince Nathan, in fact, is one of the last Arcana holders.

"It's kind of you." Nathan says in his humble, serene voice. He smiles, but he doesn't meet Alina’s eyes.

"I have read many books on American history." Alina states. "From the Grand Migration, to the Great Mages of East and West. My favorite is the Tale of the Twin Mages. Although no one knows what happened to them in the end." Alina sighs.

"I do." Nathan quietly says.

Alina gasps.

"You do?!" 

_'Of course he does,'_ Her mind supplies. _'That's what his powers do.'_

Nathan is an Arcana holder, meaning that he can see the past, present, and the future. Of course he has seen the Twin Mages.

"Yes." He starts. "The twins, Mahsana and Mallok, were both murdered by their victims. Harrak, Mallok's captive with the magic of Wild, _turned_ Orissa. Orissa chased down Mahsana and ripped out her throat. And Harrak - with the help of Nikto - burned Mallok's body in the Sacred Volcano. And together, they rescued the fourth captive, Dansar."

"So Orissa lived? I always thought it was only Dansar and Nikto." Alina asks with genuine curiosity. She had given up on the outcome of that tale years ago. She never thought her questions would be answered. And with such detail, at that.

"She did. She became a hunter, after killing Mahsana. She went into hiding and no mermaid or merman saw her ever again." Nathan sighs, and starts trailing the corals with his fingers. "Historians were ordered to omit the history of the Wild after the Great Migration. That's why most history books don't mention Harrak and Orissa. And if they do, they say they died in the end."

"I see.." Alina's trails off as she slips into thought. She wonders how it feels like to have the power of Arcana. _Probably not fun_ , she thinks. She's heard of the long weeks Nathan spends unconscious, wandering around in the lands of visions and time. She knows of King Rafael's concerns about his heir's health, because Nathan grows weaker every time he comes back. She's heard rumors that the visions are taking longer and longer each time, since a while back. King Rafael doesn't like to admit it though.

She wonders what her life with Nathan would be like, with him gone into history and future and whatever else his powers show.

* * *

Yuzuru walks in the streets of the city he doesn't know. He walks briskly, his mind set on getting as far away as he can from that stupid ship with its even more stupid captain.

"That _bastard_ ," He mutters at the thought of Javier, and kicks a pebble on the street.

He doesn't quite know how long he's been walking. But the morning chill has turned warmer and warmer, and now it's almost hot. Sweat has started to trickle down the back of his neck.

He takes a turn, and enters an alley. There's a broomstick left on the side, and Yuzuru almost laughs. That fucking dickhead of a captain thinks he can make him sweep the deck for as long as he wants. Well, fuck him.

He shakes his head, and turns left, into another alley. And then another. And then another. And then-

"You goin' somewhere, pretty thing?"

Yuzuru stops, and turns around to see a muscular man with dark skin and an eyepatch in the entrance of the alley. The man is smirking, and his yellow teeth are showing. The smirk makes Yuzuru feel sick.

Yuzuru instinctively backs away as the man takes a step closer. He has to get out of here. He has to turn around and run and get back somewhere safe and-

His back hits something - or rather, _someone_ \- and Yuzuru flinches away instinctively. Or, he tries to. But he can't because strong arms wrap around his upper body and immobilize him. As he tries to get out, the arms tighten. Yuzuru can't move no matter how much he thrashes. The man with the eyepatch comes closer with a coil of rope Yuzuru didn't realize he was holding. He starts shouting and kicking around as hard as he can to no avail. Please, oceans, _please_ don't let this happen again.

"Stop fighting, little one." The man holding him whispers in his ear, and puts a knife against his throat. Yuzuru shudders.

"P-please…" He whispers - no, _begs_.

The other one moves over to them, and brings out the coil of rope. Yuzuru tries to take another step back. To run away and get out and get back. But the man holding him presses the knife harder to his throat, and Yuzuru whines. A trickle of blood moves down his neck.

“Looks like we’re in luck today, Joe! We just caught a merman." The one-eyed man says with a grin as he grabs Yuzuru's homolapisa necklace. Yuzuru freezes.

No. No! They can't know. They can't take him back. He can't take it. Please, please he can't _take it_! Please don't take him back…

"They're gonna pay a handsome price for you." The man purrs into his ear, and he can't move. He feels like he's glued to the spot, frozen from head to toe and he can't _move_. He can't move as they turn him around, and tie his hands behind his back, and wound the rope around his arms and chest, and he'll be back to his life of pain and blood and tears and he has no way to escape. He completely stops fighting, going limp in the hands of his captor and-

Suddenly the hands are gone, and Yuzuru falls down to the ground. Someone shouts in the distance. Yuzuru is shocked from fear and the familiarity of the voice. He curls in on himself as best as he can, and starts sobbing.

He can vaguely hear the shouts in the distance, but they’re fading as the ringing in his ears gets louder and louder. He can feel it in his bones though, he knows that it’s _him_. All this - Zhenya, the Cricket, going back home - they were too good to be true. He always knew it. He was too naive to actually believe he was free. He will _never_ be free. The Captain is gonna take him back, to that small tank. The pain will be back, that’s for sure. He hopes it will be whips at least, knives are much worse afterwards. When the wounds are left untreated in the salt water, it stings like _hell_. The Captain should be in a good mood though, after finding him again. Maybe he’ll go easy on him for a while. Please, god, _please_ let him be in a good mood…

Arms wrap around his upper body and another set of arms go to undo the ropes and Yuzuru sobs harder. It's the Captain, he knows. He knows even before he opens his eyes and sees him. He's come back for the tears. Yuzuru is just an object. Just a thing to please people with his pain and his tears that they claim have magic. He's not a person.

"Yuzuru? Hey, hey Yuzuru, are you okay? Did they hurt you?" Javier asks, and Yuzuru opens his eyelids and looks over with unfocused, glassy eyes. Javier doubts he's even seeing him.

"C-Captain..?" Yuzuru whispers, and Javier is now sure that he is definitely _not_ seeing him. Captain in Yuzuru's dictionary means no one but that asshole Plushenko.

Suddenly he starts thrashing, trying to get away from Javier.

“No! Get away from me! He’s gonna kill me! You’re not real. You’re not real…” His whole body starts to shake uncontrollably as he keeps repeating the same words.

"Dammit. Jun?"

"Y-yeah?" Jun's voice shakes as he speaks. He looks spooked by Yuzuru's behavior.

"Go get Zhenya! He doesn't seem fine. Hurry!” Javier orders, and Jun starts running towards the port immediately after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think will happen next?👀


	9. Search for the Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey, look at me, look at me. You’re safe, ok?” Javier tries to talk to Yuzuru as gently as possible but he doesn’t seem to be calming down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! It's been a while.  
> So! to make up for the long absence, this chapter is longer than usual. Also, we're gonna have a new character, and some long-awaited Yuzuvier and Junrad moments ;)  
> Enjoy <3  
> -Sarv

Javier tries to get close to Yuzuru again. This time, he doesn’t struggle or try to get away, but he’s still curled up on himself, eyes closed, sobbing and mumbling incoherently. 

“Hey, look at me, look at me. You’re safe, ok?” Javier tries to talk to Yuzuru as gently as possible but he doesn’t seem to be calming down; if anything, he’s getting worse. Javier notices that he’s not breathing properly. He looks like a fish out of water, gulping for air and gasping fast.

“Hey, breathe with me, ok? In… and out… now in…” It takes Yuzuru a while to catch up. At first he’s breathing twice as fast as Javi, but eventually he manages to match him, his breathing slower and less shallow. 

It’s only then that Javier notices that Yuzuru is clutching his shirt, really hard.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m gonna stay right here until Jun comes back with Zhenya, ok?” Still sobbing, Yuzuru nods his head vigorously, letting Javi know that he can hear him.

‘Who would've thought he enjoyed my company so much?’

* * *

It takes Javier a while to be able to calm Yuzuru down. It took a while for the horror in his eyes to subside, and once it did, shame replaced it.

They were lucky, Javier thinks. Things could have gotten much worse. Those men - slavers, to be specific - could have hurt Yuzuru, or worse. They could have boarded him on their ship, and left. And things would have been so much more difficult, then. They were just on time. And it's all because Zhenya insisted on finding Yuzuru sooner.

To be honest, Javier wasn't quite concerned about Yuzuru. He hadn't noticed the slavers' ship at the port. He thought the worst that could happen to Yuzuru was getting lost. Not that he believed Yuzuru could handle himself, but still.

He takes another glance at the alley entrance to see if Jun and Zhenya are coming or not. But the street ahead is empty.

He sighs, and takes a look at the corner of the alley, where Yuzuru is sitting. He’s been in that exact position from the moment he came back to himself, refusing to look at Javier. And for once, it wasn't anger or hatred in his eyes when he avoided Javier, it was shame. He had outright cried into Javier's arms, begging to not be hurt. And Javier would be lying if he said he didn't feel a bit bad for him. But Yuzuru seems to be ashamed of it.

“Hey, can you walk?" Javier asks, and Yuzuru stiffens for just a fraction of a second. But he relaxes soon enough, and nods his head; Although still avoiding Javier's eyes and seeming to be in thought.

"Jun's not back yet. Silly boy's probably lost on the way back." Javi shakes his head. "Let's get back to the ship, we’ll probably find him on the way.”

Yuzuru nods again, and stands up. He looks as if he's in a daze.

The walk back to the ship is spent in silence. Javier walks ahead, leading the way. And Yuzuru follows him, keeping his distance. The streets of Pilos seem to extend in mockery of the tension between them.

"Zhenya! They're back!" Conrad shouts as soon as he sees them get out of the last row of buildings along the shore, and Zhenya's head snaps up.

" _Finally_!" She says, and heaves a sigh of relief. It took longer than necessary for them to come back. She was getting worried.

But they're back now, and it doesn't matter anymore. Now, Zhenya has to think of a way to settle their possible fight.

But when they finally come on board and Zhenya sees them up close, neither of them looks angry or mad. Instead they seem rather… defeated.

"Yuzu..-" She starts to say, but Yuzuru silently goes to the infirmary with his head held down, and slowly closes the door.

Zhenya turns towards Javier.

"Javi I swear to god if you've-"

"I didn't do anything ok?" Javi says, holding his hands up. He doesn't quite snap, but doesn't speak so gently either. Then, he lowers his voice. "He had a panic attack. A really bad one. Doesn’t want to talk to me though, maybe he’ll talk to you.”

"A panic attack?! What? _Why_?"

"Fucking slavers," Javier nods towards the other sloop docked on the farthest end of the port from them, just along the shore. He's right, the manacles drawn on their flag is enough to indicate their business. "Found him just in time. Fucking cowards ran their asses away when they saw our swords."

"Shit, is he hurt?"

"Don't know. Won't talk to _me_. But he looks way better than when we found him."

"Alright alright. I’ll go talk to him." Zhenya turns back and leaves for the infirmary.

Javier sighs, and drops on the stairs.

"Javi?" Conrad jumps down from the last few steps of the rope ladder connecting the crow's nest to the ground, and asks, "Where's Jun?"

"Jun? I sent him back here. I thought he was with you?"

"No, he didn't show up here."

"Hmm," Javier shrugs. "Probably got lost on the way and can’t find his way back. I’ll go look for him in a bit. Seriously, you kids will make me go bald before I hit thirty.”

Conrad chuckles. "Yeah, probably."

* * *

The kitchen is a mess of noise and waiters and chefs running around, when the three Russian princesses enter. They've had classes all throughout the morning and afternoon, and missed the actual lunch when it was served. So they came to the kitchens to find some food.

It isn't like they couldn't just ask for food to be brought to their room. But all of them - even someone as well behaved as Anna - likes to be in the kitchen with all the people. They're even friends with some of the waiters.

"What's all this about?" Sasha asks Sergei Dudakov, the castle's head-chef, when they sit down on the small table in the corner. She has to raise her voice a bit to be heard over the clattering of pots and boiling of food.

Sergei doesn't look up from the pile of seaweeds he's chopping - expertly so. But his eyebrows raise, as if surprised the princesses don't know themselves, and he says, "We're preparing for the feast tonight."

"Feast? What feas-"

"Oh is it the Americans?!" Aliona cuts off Sasha's question, and almost lights up when Sergei nods, and goes around the table to check the quality of the dishes served for the princesses.

"Is Prince Cam-... I mean, how many of the royal family members are we hosting?" Aliona changes her question before it fully leaves her mouth, and Sasha and Anna grin at her from both sides.

"We've been told to prepare for three guests." Sergei finishes checking the last tray of food, and takes a step back. Finally looking up at the princesses. “Now if you excuse me, I have a ton of duties for tonight's festivities."

All three of them nod at the same time, and Sergei walks away. Finally leaving them alone.

"You almost said his name." Anna grins at her from her right.

"I was expecting little hearts to pop out of your eyes." Sasha giggles from the left.

"Oh shut up!" Aliona says, but laughs right after. Her cheeks grow red in a blush.

"Oh Anya look! She's blushing!" Sasha pokes at her cheeks.

"No I'm not-"

"Oh my sister Aliona, waiting for her Prince Camden in shining armor, in the cruel realm of Russia." Anna sighs dramatically, putting her hands over her heart and forehead, like the ending scenes of the plays they sometimes watch.

"Your poor children will have to bear Alina both as their aunt and their uncle's wife." Sasha chuckles.

"Guys it's not like that..!" Aliona almost wants to bury her face in her hands to hide her flushed red cheeks.

"Yeah yeah sure. We've all seen how your eyes followed him everywhere back in AquaGala." Anna picks up her fork, and gestures vaguely with it.

"Anyways, have you guys heard that the search unit's back?" Anna changes the subject. "We won't have to bear that Samarin guy’s boring criticism in our quarters anymore."

Both sisters sigh a breath of relief, and start talking behind Samarin's back while eating their lunch.

* * *

Zhenya and Javi walk through the streets of Pilos' market, looking for the herbs Zhenya needs, and of course, Jun. Other crew members are out in the market as well, with the only exception being Yuzuru, Brian, and Raya, who have decided to stay on the ship.

Zhenya talked to Yuzuru, and gave him another vial of the herbs to soothe his mind. He seemed way better than when he first came back. Although he still refused to fully tell Zhenya what happened. But he was fine enough for Zhenya to leave him alone and come shopping.

Javi asks around for someone to repair the railings, while Zhenya inspects the herbs an old lady in bright clothes is selling.

A few feet away, Joseph and Nam are fooling around, trying to mock Conrad. But Conrad shakes them off. He doesn't seem to be in the mood.

"How much for the echium?" Zhenya asks the old lady.

"Only 5 drachma, dear." The old lady smiles.

"Would this be enough?" Zhenya takes out two copper coins out of her pocket, and shows them to the lady.

"Indeed."

Just as she finishes packing the herbs she bought and starts walking away, a hand casually wraps around her shoulders, and Zhenya jumps in surprise. _What the hell?_

"Hello beautiful," Says the female voice of the person next to her, with a thick Russian accent. Way thicker than Zhenya's. It kind of reminds Zhenya of home.

"I saw you walking with my dear friend Javier," She nods towards the shop Javi and Zhenya were just visiting before splitting up. "Thought I'd better come say hello."

Zhenya opens her mouth to say something. Greet the woman or whatever. Just to get away from the creepy way she does everything so casually, or the easy smirk on her lips. But before she can do anything, she hears Javier's voice from behind.

"Hey Liza! Long time no see."

Liza turns back to look at Javier, and her hand slides lower on Zhenya's body. Almost wrapping around her waist. Her confident smirk never leaves her face. "Hello Javier."

"I hope I wasn't interrupting anything." Javi gestures to the way Liza's basically embracing Zhenya, and Liza laughs. Finally letting go of Zhenya's waist.

"Oh, no, no," Liza shakes her head, laughter still in her voice. "I was just saying hello."

Zhenya almost wants to roll her eyes. But there's something in her that doesn't quite let her look away from Liza's high cheekbones and flushed lips.

"Anyways, I was just about to leave the market. Javi, you know where you can find me." Liza tilts her head, just slightly, enough to make her long black hair fall off one shoulder. "See you around next time, beautiful." She blows a kiss towards Zhenya, and turns to leave.

Zhenya's eyes follow her defined body, until she turns a corner and gets out of sight.

"Who was she?!" Zhenya asks, not sure if she sounds more impressed or weirded out.

"Liza Tuktamysheva. Captain of _that_." Javi nods towards the black masts of the brig called the Empress. The one Zhenya asked Javi about, in the morning.

"The _captain_?! But how..?" Zhenya feels her jaw drop.

"Yeah, I know." Javi admits, and they both spend a good while in dumbfounded silence.

* * *

They're just about finished buying everything they wanted, near sunset, when Conrad and Joseph run towards them, looking nervous and heavily panting. Zhenya is walking a couple of steps behind everyone, and is the first one to see them.

"Conrad? Joseph? What's wrong?" Zhenya asks, raising one eyebrow. "Did you see a ghost or something?"

"No!" Conrad pants. "Jun.. it's.. it's about Jun! They have him! They have him Zhenya!" He mutters, and he looks like he might collapse at any second.

"What? Who has him? Speak like human beings for ocean's sake!" Zhenya almost shouts, worry starting to build up in her chest. It's been almost four hours since Jun went away. He's not back yet.

"Th-the slavers!" Joseph stutters. "They have him! And they're gonna leave the city _tonight_!"

"They what?!" Zhenya gasps. "How'd you know?!"

"We were.. were asking around to see.. see if anyone had seen him and.. fuck.. multiple people s-said that." Conrad pants, and Zhenya isn't sure if that's because of running, or anxiety.

"Ok ok, _shit_ , listen to me." Zhenya starts. "We'll have to-"

"What's all this tantrum about?" Javier steps towards them, and asks.

“The slavers got Jun, and we need to save him." Zhenya explains. "Right now!"

* * *

"Javier, where the hell are we going?!" Zhenya whispers, as they weave through the streets of Pilos under the already darkening sky. "Jun is in that goddamn ship, we gotta go save him!"

"We can't do this alone. It would be a suicide mission.” Javier calmly states.

Conrad behind them, walks in utter silence. He insisted to come, even when Javier said it was too dangerous.

"Why not?" Zhenya insists.

"Because we need _help_!" Javier almost snaps. But he keeps his voice low. They don't need unwanted attention.

"Whose help would you even seek?"

Javier stays silent for a couple of seconds, then says, "Liza."

"Liza? The fancy captain girl from this morning?" Zhenya asks, and Javier nods.

"Shouldn't we look for her in her _ship_?!" Zhenya points to the port, in the opposite way of where they’re going.

"Trust me Zhenya, I know _exactly_ where she is." Javier says, just as he stops in front of a double door. The sound of music and laughter comes from the inside, making it clear what the building is. A tavern.

"Javi what the-?"

Javier opens the door, and Zhenya has to shut her mouth.

There, in the middle of the tavern hall, Liza's laying on a chair, with her legs thrown and crossed over the table. Her head's thrown back into a laughter at whatever joke's been said to her; although the large glass of ale in her hand makes her suspect if there was even a joke in the first place.

The laughter finally stops, and Liza looks back ahead, directly facing Javier, Zhenya, and Conrad.

"Oh look over there, everyone!" Liza says out loud, and jumps down on her feet. "It's the great Captain Fernandez of Spain!" She raises her glass, and everyone cheers after her. Whistling and shouting and clapping.

"Come over here Javi! Just loosen up and have some fun!" Liza comes forth with such graceful lazy ease. Zhenya feels her eyes glued to her once again.

"I see you've brought the pretty girl with you." Liza tilts her head, just like she did in the morning, as she reaches Javier. She leans down towards Zhenya, reaching a hand to cup her cheek, with her ever present smirk on her lips. But Javi grabs her wrist before her hand reaches Zhenya.

"Liza, it's not the time for this." Javier says with a serious expression. More serious than Zhenya often sees him.

“Oh! The pretty girl's yours then?" Liza raises both eyebrows in surprise. Her accent thicker than ever. “Never thought that would be your type-“

"Liza, it is not. The time. For this." Javier deadpans, and Liza stops right away. "I need your help." He whispers.

And as if Liza understands out of nowhere that they need some privacy, she leads them out of the tavern, and in the dark narrow alley beside it.

"What is it, Javier?" She asks, seriously. All the signs of her previous mischief and drunken are gone.

"We need to break in that slavers' ship docked right in front of yours. They have one of ours, and they'll set off in an hour or so."

Liza nods, and considers the request for a couple of seconds.

"Have you come prepared?" She asks, and Javi pulls his sword out of its sheath to show her a glimpse.

"Good. We can’t waste any time." She says as she takes out two daggers from somewhere near her navel. "What are you waiting for? Let's go!"

* * *

Conrad's heart beats in his throat all the while they're trying to break into the slavers' ship. That woman, Liza, seems to be an expert in this. Once they got to the port, she quickly ran to her own ship, which was docked right in front of the slavers', and brought back a coil of rope with a hook attached to one end.

"They'll be busy trying to set sail. They won't notice if we swarm them from down below." That's what she said, and how they went in.

She threw the rope with expert hands, catching the wood just beside one of the larger windows with the hook, and tied the other end to one of the poles set on the port.

One by one, they grabbed the rope, slid over to the window, and entered the room they are in now. Somewhere that looks like a storage of some sort. But the equipment inside makes Conrad's stomach churn. Rows upon rows of rusty shackles and leather whips and devices Conrad has no idea about their function. It makes him sick. But he doesn't complain. He needs to be ready to save Jun. He can't get sick by the sight of some goddamn metals.

"Come on, this way." Liza whispers, and leads them out with expert ease. Conrad heard Javier telling Zhenya that the reason they needed Liza was that she knew this particular ship like the back of her own hand. It was one of her father's creations.

Silently, almost invisibly, they weave through hallways, and avoid guards whenever they see them. Each locked door has a small lid on the top, and once they get to the area that Liza claims is where they keep the new captures, they start checking every lid on every locked door. Luckily enough, there's no guard down here. Not now. Everyone is up on the deck, helping with the sails and the intricate knots on the ropes, and the few guards that are left below, are on higher levels, not down here, nearly at the bottom of the ship.

It's pitch black down here, and their only source of light is the dim glow coming out of Zhenya's necklace. The glow grows brighter the closer they get to the bottom. The more surrounded with the ocean. But it never gets as bright as that night Yuzuru swam back to the Cricket with a fistful of them in his hands. They don't need that much of light though. Their eyes adapt enough to the darkness to see their surroundings.

The smell hits them even before they reach the door to the slaves' quarters. The sharp unpleasant smell of sweat and rot and death.

Javier goes in first, followed by Liza, and then Conrad. Zhenya stays outside to keep watch.

The room, large as it is, is filled with people. There's not enough light to see clearly, but Conrad can definitely say that most of them are young. Maybe even younger than Conrad himself. His eyes frantically looks around the room for Jun, and finds him sitting in the far corner of the room, curled up on himself. The look on his face is a mixture of fear, and buried anger. In the basically none existent light of the room, and with their covered faces, there is no way Jun can guess who they are.

Javi gestures for Liza to go get Jun out of the shackles keeping him connected to the ground. Conrad can see how Jun first tries to back away from Liza, until he sees Javier's face. 

“I knew you’d come for me!” he whispers, his relief evident in his voice. Conrad finds himself moving after Liza as well, to be close to his friend.

"All of you, listen to me." Behind him, Javier starts talking, and the slaves listen to him carefully. Curious and scared at the same time.

Conrad kneels down next to Jun, holding his hand and squeezing it to comfort him as Liza leans down with expert ease to unlock the manacle around Jun’s right ankle. Jun squeezes Conrad’s hand back with a smile.

"It's ok, Jun. It's ok now. We've got you." Conrad whispers, more for his own comfort.

“I know. I’m ok.” 

In the door frame, Javier is giving a motivational speech. ‘You shouldn't give up on your lives’ and ‘keep fighting’ and other stuff like that. Conrad can't care less, Jun is all that matters, now.

“For a moment there, I really thought you were not coming,” Jun says, trying to sound calm but sounding anxious instead. “Thought I was done for…” He trails off.

“Hey, don’t think about it now. We got you in time and that’s all that matters.” Conrad whispers, and pulls Jun closer in a hug.

A few moments later, a soft click comes from where Liza's been fiddling with the lock, and it opens.

"Huh!" Liza whispers, and looks at Conrad with confidence. "Get him up, we need to leave."

As they move towards the door, Javier says his final words. "We can’t take you with us. But we are leaving the door open and giving all of you pins to unlock the shackles with. She’ll show you how." Javier points at Liza, who's already kneeling next to another slave, helping him out.

"After this though, it's up to yourselves, what you'll do with your lives." Javier finishes his words by throwing the bag filled with small knives and weapons they brought with themselves in front of the slaves.

Conrad can hear Liza's voice instructing the slaves on lock-picking, as the four of them start going back to where they came from. Javier leads the way, followed by Zhenya, and finally Conrad and Jun. Jun doesn't let go of his hand as they move through the hallways.

They see a guard or two, on their way back up. But they avoid them by staying in the shadows. They avoid them very well until they're finally in the orlop and-

Suddenly, Conrad feels Jun's hand getting yanked out of his, and he gets confused - only for a fraction of a second - before he hears Jun's yelp behind him.

His head, and everyone else's, whips back. Only to see a man with a thick beard holding a knife over Jun's neck.

"Thought ya could get away, huh? Little one?" The man tightens his hold on Jun, and Conrad instinctively takes a step forward.

"Uh uh uh uh," Says the slaver. "Stay the fuck back blondie, if ya want the little one in one piece."

Conrad doesn't move away. Instead, his hand moves to unsheathe his sword. At least, he tries to. Before Javi puts a hand on his shoulder and stops him.

"Don't be stupid." Javi whispers to him, and pulls him back.

“That's better." The man grins, showing his yellowed out teeth. "Now, I give ya two choices. Put y'all's weapons down and surrender, or don't, and little one dies. Along with all of ye." He pushes the knife harder to Jun's neck, and Conrad can swear he sees a drop of red seep out. Jun whimpers.

"Ok ok ok," Javi says, dropping his own sword down on the ground. "We surrender, just don't hurt the boy." Javi puts his hands up in the air, palms open in an act of surrender.

Conrad stares wide-eyed at him. Is he really giving up that easily? He can't just let them have Jun! Or all of them, in that matter.

He sees a sparkle in Javi's eyes, and an unnatural confidence for someone who's just giving up their lives to slavers.

What he doesn't see though, is a petite female figure, with black hair and feline eyes, creeping right behind the slaver.

And when he does see Liza, it's when she already has her sword out, and brings its hilt down hard on the man's neck. The man lets out a pained groan, and drops the knife he was holding. Jun scrambles away from him in a fraction of a second.

Up close, Conrad can see the trickle of blood dripping down the front of Jun's neck, and he loses it. He's not quite sure how it happens, but the next second he finds himself on top of the bulky man, punching his face with an inhumane strength. He hears a crunch, and feels warm slick liquid coat his hands. He hears pained groans, and weak hands trying to push him off. But he doesn't stop. He can't stop. And he shouts and curses with every punch landing on the face of that sick piece of shit.

"Conrad!" Zhenya shouts from behind him.

"Conrad stop!" Javier demands right after. But Conrad does not.

"I said _stop_!" Javier groans, grabs him around the torso, and all but pulls him away from the now-unconscious body.

"We need to go!" Javier shouts, and he's right. Now that Conrad's senses are back, he can hear sounds of shouting from below, and footsteps from above. The slaves are trying to get out, and the place will be swarmed by guards very soon.

"Ok," Conrad takes a deep breath. "Ok, let's get out."

And with that, they run towards the room with the larger window like their life depends on it. Funnily enough, it does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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